Late Nights
by princessjasmine12
Summary: A story about Aria and Ezra's relationship after Ezra takes the job at Hollis. Read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**This is just a little one-shot that entered my mind. I might make it a two or three-shot of different 'stories' about Ezra working at Hollis, how if affects his and Aria's relationship, and possibly leading them to getting caught :) Also, is shirtless Ezra in episode 1 or 2 next season? **

**Ezra **

Ezra Fitz had just started his new job at Hollis College, and truth to be told, he was already homesick for Rosewood High. Or school sick. Whatever you would call it. He was already spending late nights grading papers, and it was only his third day teaching. Knowing he was staying at school this late on just his third day teaching, he didn't even want to think about how it would be after a month or two. He would never be able to spend any time with his girlfriend, Aria Montgomery. And one of the reasons of him taking the job at Hollis, was so Aria and him wouldn't have to hide anymore, and so that they could see each other more often, outside of school. Not that he didn't love working at Rosewood. He got to spend practically his whole work day with his girlfriend. He saw her in class for an hour, at break, lunch, and she usually came to his classroom after school. Not to mention that she also came over to his apartment almost every night to be with him, spending the night on days they got lucky. Aria Montgomery, his girlfriend. But girlfriend didn't sound right in his head. It was not binding enough. Soul mate. That was definitely it. Aria Montgomery, his soul mate. Not to mention his former student and daughter of a fellow co-worker. Two fellow co-workers in fact. An ex-coworker, and a current co-worker. Thinking so much about Aria, forced him to instinctively reach into his desk and grab a black binder. Aria had given it to him right after he had resigned from Rosewood. She chose a binder because it would fit in with all his other office supplies. He could keep it in his desk and no one would think twice about it being there. He ran his fingers across the front of the binder, which inside, held the poem he had written about Aria, not long ago. _B-26_. Aria had placed the poem in the front inside pocket of the binder, so that whenever he opened it up, the first thing he saw was the poem. Aria had written little notes all over the paper that the poem was printed on. Ezra ran his fingers across the page, able to feel the areas where she pressed hard into the paper with her pen. "_I'll miss seeing my favorite teacher in school, but now I get to see you in public!"_and_"You better not let any students try to hit on you while I'm not there. I'll personally hunt them down and kill them, then strangle them, then kill them again, for even going near my Ezra."_and_"I love you and don't ever forget that."_and _"Have a great time teaching at Hollis, but don't daydream too much about me! :)" _He felt a smile appear on his face as his thoughts wandered towards Aria. How her hair smelled like freshly picked apples, and her beautiful smile was able to take his breath away every time he saw her, and how amazing and right her lips felt against his and - his thoughts were interrupted by the soft vibration of his phone. His heart skipped a beat when he looked down at the caller ID. _A.M._

Ezra shook his head, thinking of how in the world he managed to get himself into such a situation. He flipped open his phone and smiled when he heard the beautiful voice on the other line. "Hello?" He heard her say, as he got up and left the room.

**Byron**

Byron Montgomery was used to late nights. He actually enjoyed them. Being alone in the large school building was eerie and marvelous all at the same time. It gave him time to think about everything that was going on in his life. All about Ella and whether they would be able to work things out and all about Mike, who was getting into fights at school about who knows what. Last but not least, his one and only daughter, Aria, who now was in a 'private relationship.' She could be dating a serial killer for all he knew, and she, or he, wouldn't have even known it. After he finished grading the current paper in his hands, he got up from his desk and walked out of the room. All the stress he was going through was overwhelming, and he needed to clear his head for a moment. As he was strolling down the long hallways of Hollis College, he noticed a light on inside a familiar classroom at the end of the hallway. He didn't immediately recognize who's classroom it was, so he slowly crept up beside the room, close enough so he could read the name plate beside the door. _Professor Ezra Fitz._He suddenly didn't feel so depressed anymore, knowing that Ezra was here. Ezra was a good man, and was always nice to talk to. Lately, Byron noticed that Ezra sometimes acted nervous around him, like Ezra was afraid of Byron finding something out about him. Byron quickly shook the thought away. Byron decided to just say a quick hello to Ezra, so he walked into the classroom and towards Ezra's desk.

On top of a large stack of papers laid a thin, open, black binder, with a poem typed up hugging the inside pocket. In the corner of the page, Byron saw Ezra's name._ Ezra must have written this poem._ He pulled the paper out of the pocket and as his eyes skimmed across the single sheet of paper, confusion filled his mind. "_What a confusing poem. These aren't even full sentences. It means nothing to the reader... It must make sense in his mind... I mean, he wrote it."_ Byron thought. As he read the comments that were written all over the paper, he realized that the handwriting looked strangely familiar. Yet he couldn't place where exactly he had seen that handwriting before. He didn't want to be rude, but his curiosity got the best of him. He flipped through the papers in the binder to find a bunch of old essays that were written by... _Aria_? Byron was starting to get a little terrified. Why did Aria's old English teacher have a binder filled with Aria's old papers? Byron found a picture of two people with paper bags over their heads. _What in the world? Is Ezra stalking my daughter?_ Byron thought. Before he could think twice about it, he heard a voice coming from the hallway.

**Ezra**

"I'm so sorry for having to stay so late these past few days. It's awful." Ezra said to Aria, who he had been talking to as he took a short walk around the school.

"Where are you?" He asked, secretly wishing she was at his apartment.

"Um," She paused. "I'm at your apartment actually. I wanted to see you when you got home... But I guess that's a little later than I was thinking."

He laughed, as he rounded the corner a few classrooms away from his own.

"Just a little bit. I'm done here though; I can't stand being here any longer. There are only so many papers you can grade in one night." He chuckled.

"Do you mind if I stay the night?" She asked.

"Honestly, I would love that. I miss you so much. It feels like I haven't seen you in forever. Whose going to be your alibi?" Ezra asked, as he walked back into his classroom.

"Probably Hanna. Although she'll want to get a joke or two in there first." She said, as he paused outside his classroom.

"Probably." He smirked, as he walked back into the classroom. Looking over to his desk, he realized that the binder that was on there was now open. Ezra could have sworn that when he left the room, it had been closed. Ezra felt another presence in the room, and looking up, found himself looking into the eyes of Byron Montgomery, Aria's father, who was standing in the corner of the room mostly hidden in the shadows, causing Ezra to gasp loudly.

"What's wrong?" Aria asked on the other line.

"I-I got to go. I'll see you later." He quickly hung up his phone.

**Byron**

As soon as Byron had seen Ezra reenter the room, his parental instincts immediately took over. He had to protect his one and only daughter from this creep.

Ezra took a deep breath before motioning to the binder and asking, "Did-Did you see that?"

"Are you stalking Aria?" Byron asked, in a disgusted tone. Before Ezra had a chance to respond, Byron spoke again. "What a sick bastard! Stalking younger girls! I'll kill you if you ever so much as lay a finger on my daughter!" He was yelling now.

"Mr. Montgomery, it- it's not like that. Not at all. You-you weren't supposed to see that though..."

"But I did." Byron replied. "Please tell me _why _you have a binder filled with all of my daughters' old papers and such. If you're not stalking her, then what on earth is your explanation for this?" He asked, motioning towards the binder he had placed back onto Ezra's desk.

"I-I think this is something both Aria and I should explain to you." Ezra replied.

"Were you talking to her just now?" Byron asked.

Ezra simply nodded, figuring it was best not to lie.

"Call her back." Byron commanded.

Ezra obliged and pulled his phone out from his pocket. He redialed the last number he had called and Aria answered after one ring.

"Are you almost home?" She asked eagerly.

"Aria..."

"What's wrong?" She asked, immediately noticing the change of tone in his voice.

"Your dad's here. He knows." Ezra said without any emotion. He was still in shock, that a little slip up had exposed his whole relationship to his girlfriends' _father _within seconds. Not to mention that the relationship was illegal before. Not to mention that Byron had probably already put two and two together, figuring out that Ezra and Aria were together while Ezra worked at Rosewood. _Crap._He thought. He and Aria had a lot of explaining to do.

**I think I might just end this one here, I don't really see much point in going on, unless you guys want me to? Hope you liked it, let me know with a review:) And don't forget to read my other story, One Heart :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Half an hour later, Ezra slowly walked up to the door of his apartment, with Byron Montgomery following closely behind him. It was now midnight, however Ezra was pretty sure Aria would still be awake. As he stuck the key into the door, Byron spoke again.

"I don't understand why you needed to drag me all the way to your apartment at 12 am, just so that you can tell me the reason why you're stalking my daughter."

Ezra turned back to him before fully opening the door, "I already told you, it's not like that at all! I'm not a stalker, or some freaky guy going after younger women, I promise!" He walked inside, to find Aria asleep on the couch, with her phone in her hand. The screen was lit up with an unopened text from Ezra. It was the text Ezra had sent her on his way home to warn her about her father coming home with him.

Ezra walked over to her and sat beside her petite body on the couch. He felt guilty for having to wake her up, since she looked so peaceful asleep, with a small smile on her face. "Ezra..." She whispered, in her sleep. Ezra looked up at Byron with fear in his eyes.

"Wake her up." Byron motioned to Aria, as he went to stand behind the couch, out of Aria's view.

"Aria, honey, wake up." Ezra gently shook her awake.

Ezra watched her face as her eyelids slowly fluttered open. A big smile appeared on her face at the sight of him.

"You're finally home." She smiled, as she rubbed her hands against her eyes.

She reached up to stroke his cheek, but Ezra grabbed her hand before it could touch his face.

"Aria. Your dad's here." He said, as he sat down beside her on the couch.

"What?" She sat up quickly and frantically looked around the apartment.

"Over here." Byron said, as Aria's whipped her head around, towards his voice.

"Dad." She said stiffly. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Let's just say, that I just found out all about your dirty little secret." He said calmly. "Both of yours... Is there something you would like to tell me? Ezra's spend the past hour trying to convince me that he's not a stalker or forcing you into anything. So before I call the police, I want to hear your side of this. W-what are you doing here anyway? You told your mother and I that you were staying at Emily's." He asked, as he took the seat across from the couch.

"Police?" Aria repeated her voice full of fear.

"You heard me." He replied back.

Aria looked back at Ezra, who also had fear reflected in his eyes. "Dad, I swear, if you call the police on Ezra, I'll never speak to you again." She looked him straight in the eyes, as she climbed into Ezra's lap. Ezra instinctively wrapped his arms around her, then quickly pulled them away when he met Byron's gaze.

"Can you please tell me what is going on here? Before I explode. Because right now, I see you cuddling up against your English teacher, Aria."

"EX-English Teacher." She clarified for him.

"Who cares? He was your teacher! That's what matters!"

"You are the _last_ person, who can accuse me of doing something wrong." She said, her voice full of disgust. "You were in a student teacher relationship too, in case you forgot... And I'm at the age of consent, so I can be with anyone I want. And I choose Ezra." She said simply.

Byron watched Aria as she took hold of Ezra's arms and wrapped them around her waist.

"I think... We should wait a little longer before we tell Ella." Byron stated with a distant look in his eyes.

Aria nodded in agreement.

Byron sighed. "So, how did this all happen?" He gestured to Aria sitting on Ezra's lap.

Aria turned to Ezra and smiled.

"It started before school started. We met at a bar and started talking and-"

"What the hell were you doing at a bar, Aria? You're seventeen!"

"That's really beside the point." Aria replied swiftly. "We just felt this connection. I don't know how to explain it." Aria said, looking at Ezra, who smiled in response. "And yeah. You can probably guess what happened afterwards."

"Spare me the details please... Wait. You guys didn't..." Byron trailed off, watching Aria intently.

"No!" Aria shook her head fiercely. "We just kissed. Nothing more. I promise."

Ezra nodded in agreement.

"So the next day at school, I found out that Ezra was my new AP English teacher. That was more awkward than words can describe. So we broke off our relationship for like two days... Then we got back together because we were just too in love. And since then, we've had some ups and downs, trying not to get caught, but... it's all worth it. Daddy, I really love Ezra. Please, promise you won't do anything to get him in trouble." Aria pleaded. "If you really love me, you won't do anything to hurt us."

Aria's eyes were glistening with tears. Ezra pulled his arms tighter around her, while intently studying Byron's reaction.

Byron slouched down into the chair and closed his eyes.

"Daddy, please." Aria said again.

Byron opened his eyes and could see the love and sadness etched in her daughters' face. He felt a pang in his chest, as he realized that Aria hadn't called him 'daddy' in years. Ten years, in fact. As he watched Aria and Ezra for a moment more, he realized how perfect they were together.

"He's like, old." Byron said suddenly. "Doesn't that bother you?"

"No. Not at all. And it's only six years. Emily's parents are ten years apart." Aria fiercely shook her head.

"Fine. I won't do anything." He said, defeated. "Although, I could still get you for being with a student while teaching at Rosewood." He muttered under his breath.

"No. You can't." Aria said simply. "He's not my teacher anymore. There is absolutely nothing wrong with our relationship now."

"It's late, and this is too much to comprehend at this hour." Byron stood up, and pulled his car keys out of his pocket. "I'll decide what I'm going to do about this in the morning. You coming, Aria?"

"Can't I stay here tonight?" She asked sweetly. "That _was_the original plan."

"Fine." Byron muttered. "I guess I don't have much control over this situation anyway." He strolled over to the door and looked back at Aria. "When are you going to tell Ella?"

"I don't know. Maybe soon." Aria shrugged, as she watched her dad walk outside and close the door behind him.

"Bye Dad!" She called.

A few silent moments passed, before Aria looked around the apartment and stated, "I'm not tired anymore."

Ezra gave her a small smile. She twisted herself in his lap and brought her face closer to his.

"What do you want to do?" She whispered quickly in his ear in the sexiest voice she could muster.

"What do _you_want to do?" He emphasized, while tucking a stray hair from her ponytail behind her ear.

She titled her head up and he placed his soft lips on hers. She nibbled at his bottom lip, an action she knew he loved. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed her body closer to his. Her hands found the hem of his shirt and she quickly pulled it off, breaking the kiss for a second. She licked her lips at the sight of his perfectly toned abs. Her mouth met his once again and she opened her mouth slightly, giving entrance to his prodding tongue. Hers met his in a passionate battle for dominance. He brought one of his hands up to her head and gently pulled the rubber band from her ponytail, letting her hair cascade around her shoulders. She tightened her arms around his neck as she played with the hair at the nape of his neck. She moved her hand to his chest and ran a perfectly manicured finger down it, before stopping at the hem of his pants. She gave a light tug at the waistband, before Ezra pulled away from her mouth.

"Aria." He looked down.

"Ezra, I want this."

"Are you sure? You're not just trying to release your anger because your dad found out?" He asked.

"I'm sure." She whispered, as she crushed her lips to his once again. She shivered as she felt his hands move to her back and unzip the zipper on her white sundress in one swift motion. She shrugged the soft fabric off her body and it landed on the floor with a soft thud. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he slipped his hands under her legs so he could pick her up. He carried her over to the bed with her lips still locked against his. Gently, he laid her on the bed, breaking the kiss. Aria's heart skipped a beat as she felt Ezra's heavy breath against her face. She pulled his face to hers once more in a kiss full of raw passion, and they continued from there.

**Wow! I was seriously blown away with the number of reviews I got for the first chapter! I decided to change this into a story instead of just one-shots. I'll still be writing One Heart, but I'm going to be focusing on this more. Please don't forget to review! ;) **


	3. Chapter 3

**In this story, Jackie and Ezra haven't seen each other for three years. Here's the next chapter! Hope you like it, and please review! :) **

Aria awoke the next morning in Ezra's arms. She smiled as she recalled the previous nights' events. Turning over in the bed, she saw Ezra sleeping peacefully. Gently, she lifted Ezra's arms off of her, trying not to wake him. In the process, she heard a small giggle escape his lips. She looked back at him; he was definitely still asleep. A previous memory flashed across her mind of the reading Ezra invited her to, when he still worked at Rosewood. It was then, that Aria had learned that Ezra laughed in his sleep.

She got up and walked over to Ezra's dresser. Her bare feet padded quietly against the cold wood floor. Quietly, she opened a drawer and pulled out an oversized t-shirt. She pulled it over her head and tiptoed over to the bathroom, not wanting to wake Ezra. She sighed as she studied herself in the mirror. She gathered her hair up into a ponytail and applied some much needed chap stick to her bruised lips from all the kissing that happened the night before.

She walked out of the bathroom and checked her phone. The time was 9:15; she was going to need to wake up Ezra soon. Walking over to the bed, she studied Ezra's figure. He looked so content, causing Aria to smile. Wondering what in the world she did to get so lucky to get such an amazing man, she climbed back onto the bed. She softly pressed her lips against Ezra's neck, causing him to moan slightly. He opened his eyes slightly and whispered, "stay here with me," while grabbing her arms and pulling her closer to him. She gave in, and crawled back into Ezra's arms.

"I love you, Aria." He whispered in her ear.

Aria's heart skipped a beat. She had been waiting for him to say that to her for weeks.

She turned in his arms so that she was facing him.

"I love you too, Ezra." She smiled widely and kissed him softly on his lips.

An hour later, Aria found herself sitting in Ezra's kitchen watching him brew a pot of coffee for the two of them.

Ezra noticed Aria staring at him with a look of utter amazement on her face.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Ezra asked, while bringing his hand up to his face.

"Nope. I'm just thinking about how much I love you." Aria smiled.

Ezra chuckled and poured the freshly brewed coffee into two cups. He handed one to Aria and sat down across from her. Aria sighed before speaking.

"I think we should tell my mom today... and if she asks us if we've done what we did yesterday, then you need to lie. I don't care what they say, they can't know the truth.

Ezra nodded in agreement.

"I need to run up to the school today though, just for a minute. But afterwards, do you want me to stop at your house? So we can tell her together?"

"Sure, I guess. I don't think my mom will be that hard on us, considering how my dad did absolutely nothing. Honestly, I was more scared of my dad than my mom." Aria chuckled.

It was now 5:30, as Aria walked through the long hallways of Hollis College. She had the location of every classroom on campus memorized, due to the lengthy tours her father gave her when he first got accepted for the job. When she arrived in the hall Ezra's classroom was in, she smiled when she saw that his classroom light was still on.

"Ezra, I need to talk to you." She heard a voice from inside the classroom say.

Peeking inside, she spotted a brunette, tall, and more importantly, older woman standing next to Ezra.

"Jackie, please. We don't need to do this." She heard Ezra say. She watched as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"You broke it off with me, remember? And I've moved on."

"No, Ezra you don't understand. There's someone I think you should meet. They might change your mind."

"W-what are you talking about?" Ezra asked, as he leaned against his desk.

"Maria, honey, you can come out now." Jackie said.

"Wait, who's-" Ezra furrowed his brows in confusion, but stopped mid-sentence as soon as he saw her come into view. He froze as a small girl, who couldn't be older than three, came out from behind her hiding spot under one of the desks towards the back of the room, and slowly started walking towards Jackie.

"Mommy? Who's that?" She pointed to Ezra as Jackie picked her up.

"This...This is your daddy." Jackie sighed.

**I know it's really short and I'm really really sorry! I promise the next chapter will be longer! Review please! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Allthingstv242, I absolutely loved your comment on the last chapter. It made me laugh so hard and I'm sitting here laughing as I type :D **

**I love how no one expected that to happen. Because, honestly, I didn't expect that either, it just happened! Review please! **

Aria gasped as soon as she heard Jackie's heart wrenching confession: "This... this is your daddy."

Aria's heart sunk to her knees as she felt fresh, hot, tears fall from her eyes. This wasn't possible. Ezra couldn't have a daughter. Who was that lady anyway? Had Ezra been cheating on her? After what had they had done yesterday? Did he even mean it when he told her he loved her that very morning? She leaned against the wall next to Ezra's classroom for support, as her knees slowly gave out. Her small body crumbled to the floor and she brought her legs up to her chest, as more tears continued to flow.

"Aria?" She heard a concerned voice ask.

She lifted her head from her knees to see her father standing a few feet away from her with a look of confusion on his face.

"Daddy." She cried, as she rushed into his arms and buried herself into the comfort of his chest.

She continued sobbing as he crushed his little girl closer to him. He hated seeing her in pain and couldn't figure out what it was that was making her so sad. He soon realized that they were standing right outside Ezra's classroom.

"Did you and Ezra break up?" Byron asked. In the back of his mind, he hoped she would say yes, so they could all avoid having to tell Ella.

Aria's tears started flowing more freely as she lifted her head from his chest and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"He-he has a d-daughter." Aria whimpered, as she broke into another round of sobs.

He wrapped his arms around her and crushed her tightly against him once more.

"Honey... I'm so sorry." He said, as he stroked her hair.

"How am I going to tell Aria?" Ezra said, as he walked out of the classroom. Immediately, he almost ran into Byron who Ezra had now realized was holding a crying Aria in his arms.

"Aria?" Ezra gasped. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Aria turned her head to face Ezra but not lifting her head from Byron's chest. Her eyes were big and glassy.

"Y-you have a daughter?" She whispered.

Ezra ran a hand nervously through his head.

"That seems to be the news of the day." He said quietly.

Aria released herself from Byron's grasp and stood in front of Ezra.

"Did you cheat on me?"

"NO! I would _never _do that Aria! You don't realize how much I love you? I would never dream of it!" He grabbed my hands and held them in his. After a moment, he spoke again.

"Jackie" He nodded his head towards his classroom, where Jackie was still standing inside. "is my ex-fiance

And apparently... she got pregnant when we were together, but failed to tell me until five minuets ago." He said quietly.

"Are you gonna break up with me?" Aria asked quietly.

"Why do you think I would do that?" Hurt from Aria's question was evident in his eyes.

"BECAUSE YOU HAVE A DAUGHTER!" Aria screamed as tears started pouring down her face once again. She turned and ran down the hall in the opposite direction, leaving Ezra standing next to a tense looking Byron.

"What's going on out here?" Jackie appeared outside the classroom holding Maria's small hand who was walking along side her.

"Nothing." Ezra said bitterly as he began to walk away.

"Wait! Ezra, can we talk, about this?" Jackie pleaded as she began to come after Ezra.

Ezra stopped, but didn't look back. "Ju-just give me some time to think about this," He told her, before continuing down the hallway. He sent Aria a text telling her he needed to talk to her. She didn't reply.

As he got into his car, he struggled to put the keys in the ignition. His thoughts were clouded with Aria, and there was nothing he could do to change that. Aria and Maria. How could Jackie keep something like a _daughter _from him for so long? Did she ever think of anyone but herself? Ezra started driving, straight to Aria's house. He didn't care that Aria's mom was home, who supposedly didn't know about their relationship.

As he arrived at Aria's house, he quickly got out of his car, but paused for a moment before walking up to the door. What he was doing was insane. What reason was he going to give of why he suddenly needed to see a student outside of school? But Aria was hardly that, a student. She was so much more. And he was determined to get her back, even if that meant telling Ella so soon. He took a deep breathe, preparing himself for what was to come, before knocking on the door.

"Ezra? What a surprise! But what are you doing here?" Ella Montgomery asked, as soon as she opened the door.

Ezra let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"Hi Ella, how are you? I just needed to talk to Aria about a scholarship I wanted to enter her into. For w-writing." He improvised.

"Oh, um, sure!" Ella responded, a little confused. "She's right upstairs, first door on the left."

"Thanks." He smiled, and started making his way towards the stairs.

"Oh and Ezra?" He turned as he heard Ella's voice.

"Be careful, she's a bit upset. I don't know what about though, she won't tell me."

Ezra gave her a small smile in response, as he continued up the stairs. He reached her door and gave a small knock.

"Mom, I just wanna be alone for a little bit!" Aria cried from the other side of the door.

Ezra turned the knob and let himself in.

"Mom, I-" Aria stopped as soon as she realized Ezra wasn't her mom.

"What do you want?" She snapped at him, and looked back down at the book she was reading.

"I want to talk to you. And I'm not going to let you push me away." He closed the door and sat next to her on her bed, silently hoping with his whole heart that she wasn't about to kick him off. She didn't.

"Did you cheat on me? Tell me the truth." She said quietly, without meeting his eyes.

"No." He said, in a almost desperate tone. "That lady in there, her name is Jackie. She's my ex... fiancée. And just an hour ago, I found out we have a daughter." He could see the pain forming in Aria's eyes.

"But Aria, this doesn't have to change anything between us!"

"Yes it does!" She said fiercely. "You have a daughter Ezra! Obviously, you want to be a part of her life. And in order for her to be a part of your life, Jackie has to also!"

Ezra suddenly realized what was bothering her.

"Aria... is that what's bothering you? Not that I have a daughter, but that in order to get to know my daughter, Jackie has to be a part of my life again?"

Aria nodded silently.

"I just... am scared of losing you." She confessed.

"Aria! I would never leave you and if I were to ever go anywhere, I would want you by my side."

"We're going to get through this," He took her hands in his and scooted closer to her on the bed. "Together. I promise, everything will be okay."

She looked at him for a moment, then crushed her lips to his, in a kiss full of need and despair. Ezra could tell she was deathly afraid of losing him. What did he have to do to get her to understand that she could _never _lose him? He loved her way too much to ever leave her. He knew they were meant to be together, and that's why he risked so much every day for the past few months to be with her. As he pulled away a moment later, he looked at her sincerely.

"Ezra, we should tell my mom. About us, and about Jackie." Aria said, intertwining their fingers together.

"You sure you want to do that now?" He asked hesitantly.

She nodded in response, before getting off the bed.

"Ready?" She asked.

"As I'll ever be." Ezra stated, as they walked down the stairs, hand in hand.

**I could never keep them in a fight for too long. They're just to perfect for each other:) hope you liked it! Review please! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

"Mom, we need to talk to you." Aria let go of Ezra's hand and together they walked into the living room. They sat down together on the couch across from the chair Ella was sitting on.

Ella looked up from her magazine and asked, "What's going on?"

"There's something we need to talk to you about." Aria said quietly.

"Are you failing English or something?" Ella asked worriedly.

"Uh-no." Aria said uncomfortably. "Ez- I mean Mr. Fitz doesn't teach at Rosewood anymore." Aria said, quickly catching her slip.

"Oh, why? Did you not like it there?" Ella looked at Ezra.

"No-no-not at all, I loved Rosewood." He paused. "I just... wanted to be able to spend more time on my writing. So I got a job at Hollis, not long ago." He said slowly.

"Byron works there!" Ella exclaimed.

"He knows that." Aria mumbled.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Ella asked.

At that same moment, Byron walked into the house. He followed Ella's voice into the living room.

"Did you tell her yet?" Byron asked, noticing Ezra sitting next to Aria.

"Tell me what?" Ella asked, confused.

"About them." Byron said, as he took a seat next to Ella.

Ella shook her head, confused.

"Oh, this will be fun!" Byron said, sarcastically.

Aria just looked on from her mother to her father, wondering how she ended up with such a weird family.

She shook her head and started to speak. "Uh, well..."

Byron looked at her expectantly.

Aria took a deep breath, "Ezra and I-"

"Mr. Fitz, Aria. He's your teacher, be nice." Ella interrupted.

"Oh my god, Ella!" Byron exclaimed. "Let her finish! You're not going to want her to call him Mr. Fitz after they tell you."

"What in the world is going on, Aria, that you would tell your father before me? Are you two dating or something?" Ella laughed.

Ella quickly stopped laughing when she saw the looks on Aria's and Ezra's faces.

"Oh my god... you're dating..." Ella said slowly, as the realization sunk in.

Byron got up from his chair with a smug look on his face. "Have fun," he said, to Aria and Ezra, before leaving the room.

"You're dating your _teacher_?" Ella closed her eyes as she tried to imagine her one and only daughter, kissing her teacher, of all the people in the world.

"Why, Aria? Because your dad dated a student, you wanted to try a student teacher relationship too?"

"No mom!" Aria responded, shocked. "That's not why we're together! Besides, we met before school started!"

"So you just thought whatever, I'll just continue to see him, even though he's my teacher, and even though it's illegal?"

"Mom..." Aria whispered, hurt by her mothers' words. Aria knew she would be shocked, but not mad. She had not prepared herself for a mad Ella. "Please, can you just understand what we're doing here, just a little bit? And Ezra isn't even my teacher anymore."

"So you _were_ together while you were teacher and student." After getting no response from either Ezra or Aria, Ella's suspicious were confirmed.

Ella let out a huge sigh.

"What am I supposed to do here? And why did you wait so long to tell me?" Ella asked.

"You can't _do _anything! Please, don't get Ezra in trouble. If you really love me, then you won't do anything to hurt us." Aria repeated the words she told her father earlier.

Her mother closed her eyes in frustration.

"Ezra, why don't you leave for a little bit, I want to speak to Aria alone, please."

Aria got up with Ezra to walk him to the door.

"I'll let you know how it goes." Aria told him, before leaning up to kiss him.

"WHAT THE _HELL _IS GOING ON, ARIA?" Mike exclaimed, as he ran down the stairs to the sight of his sister kissing their English teacher.

Aria pulled away from Ezra and sighed.

"I'll explain later." She waved good-bye to Ezra and retreated back into the living room.

"Okay, now that he's gone, I can tell you one of the real reasons I waited until now to tell you now about us..." Aria trailed off, as she sat down in the chair across from her mother. Her eyes started to water as she started thinking about Jackie and Maria. The tears threatened to spill over, but she knew she had to be strong.

"Honey, it's okay, I won't do anything to hurt you two. I can tell just from the way he looks at you that he loves you." She motioned for Aria to come sit next to her.

Aria's wall of defense broke right then and there, and suddenly she started sobbing uncontrollably, for the second time that day. She got up and sat next to her mom, while Ella held her close, trying to comfort Aria.

"T-today, I found out... that E-Ezra has a d-daughter." Aria sobbed.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry." Ella said, while rubbing her hand soothingly up and down Aria's back.

"With h-his ex-fiance." She cried. "What the hell am I supposed to do mom? I love him so much, and I don't want him to leave me for Jackie, his daughters' mother!" She exclaimed angrily. "But there's no way Ezra can be a part of Maria's life, without Jackie being a part of his life too!" She continued to sob.

"Is Maria his daughters' name?" Ella asked, as she handed Aria a tissue from the box on the windowsill.

Aria wiped her eyes and nodded.

"Aria, how did you manage to get yourself into this situation? Dating an older man, who just so happens to be your ex-teacher, who also happens to have a long lost daughter." She said, a little frustrated.

Aria just shook her head and whispered, "I wish I knew." Aria paused a moment, then continued. "It's not Ezra's fault though. He just found out about Maria today, too. Jackie kept it a secret from him for three years." She informed Ella.

"Wow, what a bitch. Who would keep a secret like that from the child's father for that long?" Ella angrily exclaimed.

Aria let out a small giggle at the sound of her mom calling Jackie a bitch. Aria had no idea that _bitch_was even in her mothers' vocabulary.

All of a sudden, a wave of nausea swept over Aria. She jumped out of her mothers' arms and sprinted towards the bathroom. She made it just in time to throw up into the toilet. Breathing heavily, she slumped back against the bathroom wall, wondering what in the world just happened. _I was fine five minutes ago... And nothing I ate today upset my stomach until now... But it's been five hours since I've last eaten... Since I skipped dinner because I was upset over Ezra... Ugh, it's probably all this stress just catching up to me..._She thought.

Aria got up and washed out her mouth as she heard a knock at the door.

"Aria? Are you okay?" Ella asked worriedly.

"Yeah, mom, I'm fine. I don't know what just happened. It was all so quickly." She said slowly.

"What did you eat today?" Ella asked, opening the door.

Aria's stomach let out a loud growl, causing her to laugh.

"Not much, obviously."

Ten seconds later, Aria was once again bending over the toilet, with Ella holding her hair back.

"_Are you sure you're okay?"_Ella asked frantically.

"It's probably just a bug mom, I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Aria... you're not... _pregnant,_are you?" Ella cringed.

"NO!" Aria yelped. "That can't be possible." She whispered, mostly to herself.

"Have you and Ezra had sex?" Ella asked, calmly.

Aria made no move, however, the look of fear on her face said it all.

"_Aria!" _Ella exclaimed, as she too, sunk down to the floor, with her head in her hands, trying to comprehend everything that was happening.

Aria stared at the pattern of the wallpaper on the wall, until it became a blur. Suddenly, she burst into tears.

"Aria, honey, don't cry. You've already cried enough for one day." Ella said, as she took Aria in her arms.

Aria continued to sob quietly, as Ella held her tight.

"Come on, let's go to the hospital, to see whether this is just a bug or not." Ella said confidently, not wanting to think about the worst case scenario.

Aria nodded and stood up, while wiping her tears with her away with her hand. She slowly walked up the stairs to her room to wash her face and reapply her make-up. _There is no way this is happening. God please, please, please, don't make this be happening, I can't do this to Ezra,_Aria silently prayed. She heard Ella telling Byron that Aria was not feeling well and they were going to go to the hospital.

After finishing her make-up, she grabbed her purse and walked down the stairs. She took a deep breath, and followed her mother into the car.

**Hope you guys liked it! Let me know what you think, and don't forget to review! **


	6. AN

So, I'm kind of conflicted here...

I had eight people review on the last chapter and say that they wanted Aria pregnant, and two people review and say they didn't, because it is an overused storyline, and two people were not sure whether they wanted her pregnant or not. I think it is definitely an overused storyline, however, I kind of want to make her pregnant just to add that much more drama; seriously, Ezra's going to go through the hardest time of his life. I think it would be so much fun to write that. So let me know what you guys think, should I make her pregnant or not? I have already planned out the storyline for Jackie and Maria, but I feel like making Aria pregnant will just turn everything around and just add a twist and more drama, therefore a more interesting story. What do you guys think? Let me know with a comment or pm, please. And thank you SO much for your reviews. Once I get a good amount of response from this note, I'll upload the next chapter, depending on what you guys want to happen.

love always,

Jasmine

P.S. 8 MORE DAYS UNTIL SHIRTLESS EZRA FITZ! :D


	7. Chapter 6

**There was one comment, I won't say which, that I found a little bit hurtful. I haven't written it in a chapter yet that Aria knows that she is for sure pregnant, and in this chapter you'll find out why she threw up - and no it wasn't morning sickness because it's too early to detect a pregnancy (I know that it's too early, I took health class). I guess it's my fault for not clarifying that she definitely doesn't know at this point and that it was just an idea of Ella's. I decided that I will have her become pregnant, however, there will be a twist at the end (after she has the baby) that changes a lot of things and forces many ugly truths to come out and sides of people you didn't know they had. But that twist won't happen for a while. Anyways, thanks so much for your reviews and ideas! I had an epiphany the other day on how I can make this story go, so that even though Aria is pregnant (and that storyline is similar to others) I thought of something that will make sure that there is still tons of drama. And Jackie and Maria are still in the picture, alas, more drama! (I don't know why I just said 'alas'... the only person I've ever heard (or read) say that is Dumbledore...) To those of you like the idea of Aria being pregnant: she's pregnant. To those of you who don't: You may not like how the story is now, but I will do something later on with the baby that might change your mind to like it more, because it will be different. Could the baby not be Ezra's? Could her pregnancy symptoms be symptoms of a disease? Could Aria die before she is able to have the baby? Could A do some horrible things to the baby after they are born? (I know that I haven't included A in this story yet, but I will eventually... Just need to figure out when:)... ) I really hope that those of you who don't want her to have a baby continue to read though! and THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS! I got such an overwhelming response from the last chapter and that note... so THANK YOU ALL! **

**Okay sorry for my rambling... love you all so much! Here's the next chapter! **

The time Aria spent at the hospital was a quick procedure. They took some blood tests and she was told that no pregnancy was detected and that she had a 24 hour stomach virus. All the symptoms matched up with the stomach flu, and Aria was told to rest and drink lots of fluids. When Ella asked the doctor about the probability of a pregnancy, he simply said it was too early to tell, however, the fact that Aria had sex with Ezra made pregnancy a possibility. For a definite answer, Aria and Ella were told to come back in a few days.

"Aria, I can't believe this happening to you." Ella sighed, as they walked through the sliding doors of the hospital back to the car.

"Mom, they don't know if I'm pregnant. Dr. Kint said that it's just a bug and that it's too early to tell." She replied.

"What if we come back next week and they tell you you're pregnant? What will you do?"

"I don't know..." Aria whispered.

"So, it definitely is Ezra's baby?" Ella looked at Aria worriedly.

"MOM! We don't know I'm pregnant, so will you please just drop this?" Aria fired at her. "But, yes, obviously, if I am pregnant, it is Ezra's baby."

A moment of silence passed before Ella spoke again.

"My daughter is having a baby with her ex-English teacher." She whispered, with a look of utter fear on her face. "You're in high school, Aria. It's just... a lot to take in."

"Mom?" Aria asked quietly. "If I do, end up... having a baby... you'll support me through this, right?"

She looked at Aria for a moment with a pained expression on her face. "Of course honey, I'll always support you no matter what..." She turned back to the road. "We all make mistakes..." She whispered.

"What if I have an abortion?" Aria asked suddenly.

"NO!" Ella yelled.

"Whoa, sorry for mentioning it then." Aria clearly was offended by her mothers' tone.

Ella was silent for a moment. "I won't let you have an abortion. If you feel that you and Ezra definitely can't raise a baby on your own, then maybe you should think about adoption, instead."

Aria nodded her head, pondering her mothers' words.

"Are you sure? I mean, if I have an abortion, I don't have to go through the actual birth... And I'd rather spare myself the pain." Aria tried at humor, but failed.

"Aria... There's something I think I should tell you..." Ella trailed off slowly.

Aria looked at Ella intently. Aria watched, as her mother took a deep breath and began to speak.

"I got pregnant too, when I was nineteen."

Aria gasped. Quickly, she counted back the years in her head. But it didn't make sense. The math, when done, made no sense.

Ella was silent until Aria pointed to herself and whispered, "with me?" _It made no sense,_Aria thought.

Ella fiercely shook her head. "No, you would have had an older brother... But from a different father." My heart was crushed as I heard my mom speak those words. I watched as a lone tear slid down her face.

"Wh-what happened to him?" Aria asked quietly.

"I had an abortion. I was selfish and I didn't want to have to take care of a baby." Her eyes were transfixed on the road.

Aria kept quiet while she absorbed all this new information.

"I've regretted it ever since the moment it happened. I don't know what the hell was going through my head, to think that it is okay to kill an innocent child. It's murder..."

"Mom, I'm so sorry." Aria whispered.

She smiled a little through her tears. "It's okay, baby. Just promise me you won't have an abortion. It's not the right thing to do. The easiest thing isn't always the best thing."

"I promise." Aria nodded. Ella took hold of Aria's hand and squeezed it gently, giving Aria a small smile.

"So then who was the baby's father?" Aria sat up in her seat, intrigued.

"My boyfriend from high school. We had sex and when he found out I got pregnant, he broke up with me. I knew I couldn't take care of a baby myself, and I was scared to tell my parents. That was my biggest fear. Your grandpa would have kicked me out of the house in a heartbeat if he had found out." Ella wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled into their driveway.

"W-wait so grandma and grandpa still don't know?" Aria gasped.

Ella bit her lip and shook her head.

"Wow." Aria whispered, as she fell back into her seat. "Does Byron know?"

Ella shook her head once again. "And don't you dare tell him! Please Aria, don't tell him." She begged.

"I won't. Promise." Aria gave her mother a small smile, before getting out of the car.

The next week went by far too quickly then Aria wanted. Her stomach flu went away the day after the trip to the hospital, and she spent that whole week avoiding Ezra. Almost every day after school since Ezra had taken the job at Hollis, Aria stopped by to visit him. However, since her doctors' visit, Aria avoided Ezra like he was a bee who wanted to sting her. (**I can't believe I just compared Ezra Fitz to a bee. Something is clearly wrong here.)**After her trip to the hospital, Aria managed to go a full three days without thinking about Jackie or Maria. However, one day while stalking Ezra's Facebook page, Aria stumbled across a picture that made her stomach feel uneasy.

"So he _is_going to be a part of Maria's life." Aria whispered quietly to herself, as she clicked on the picture. Jackie had posted it two hours ago and tagged Ezra in it. It revealed itself to be a photo of Ezra, Jackie, and Maria, together at the park. Ezra was pushing Maria on a swing, while Jackie was standing a few feet away with a smug smile on her face. Aria felt tears welling up in her eyes and she subconsciously placed a hand on her stomach. She felt a pang in her heart as she realized that if she was pregnant, her and Ezra would never be able to do that. They wouldn't be able to take their son or daughter to a park; a public place. If they did, people would suspect things, things they were probably right about. She could already see the headline of the Rosewood Observer, "_Seventeen Year Old Girl Knocked Up By Her Teacher." _She knew this wasn't going to work. She knew it from the moment she heard Jackie utter the four simple words: "This is your daddy."

**Kay, I admit, I didn't really like this very much. It was supposed to be way longer and more things were supposed to happen, but whatever. I wanted to give you guys an update so this is what I came up with. What did you think about Ella's past? Hope you guys liked it! Please leave a review! I love reading them and and knowing what you guys think. Your input really helps me think of new ideas to add to this story! I'll try and update tomorrow or Friday because tomorrow's my last day of finals! Now.. back to studying :) **


	8. Chapter 7

**It is officially summer! :) Who thinks that the mystery person in the Ezria triangle could be Lucas? They said it's someone we've already met before, more age appropriate, and that Ezra and him are total opposites. And Lucas is getting a new love interest this season... It's a weird pairing, but it's PLL, we never know! :)**

**Aria's POV**

Ella and I anxiously walked through the blue door's of the doctors' office and straight to the reception counter.

"We're here to learn the results of the blood tests for Aria Montgomery." Ella told her as

I fidgeted with the many rings on my fingers, awaiting her response.

"Ah, yes," The lady said, after scrolling through her computer. "Dr. Lori will be with you soon."

I gave her a small smile as Ella and I took a seat on the couch nearby.

"You ready for this?" Ella took my hand squeezed it gently.

"No." I whispered, my voice cracking as I shook my head.

"Aria Montgomery?" I heard a voice call. I looked up to find a lady with brunette hair and light green eyes smiling at me. She tilted her head towards the door, signaling me to follow her.

"I'm Dr. Lori." She smiled as she shook hands with Ella and I.

"So, Aria, how are you feeling?" She smiled.

"At the moment, fine. But I had the stomach flu last week."

"Yes, yes, we got your blood test results." She led Ella and I into a small room with daisy wallpaper all over the walls. I climbed onto the bed and looked at her expectantly.

"First off, you're anemic. So I'm going to prescribe you a bottle of iron pills. You'll need to take one every morning before you eat breakfast."

I nodded as she wrote something down on a piece of paper.

"Secondly..."

I held my breath.

"You're pregnant." She gave me a sympathetic look.

Ella took my hand as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

I couldn't believe it. I was actually pregnant. This was real. There was a baby inside of me... What is Ezra going to do when he finds out?

"Who?" Dr. Lori asked.

"Who what?" I asked, confused.

"You just asked, 'what is Ezra going to do when he finds out?'" She replied.

"Oh... I didn't mean to say that out loud. Uh-" I looked at my mom, trying to figure out what to say. She nodded, signaling me to tell Dr. Lori the truth.

"Well... Ezra's my boyfriend. Except, he just found out that he has a daughter with his ex-fiance." I explained.

"Is he... older?" She asked, carefully.

I nodded. "Six years."

"Did you tell him that you thought you could be pregnant?" She leaned against the counter.

I shook my head fiercely.

"Any advice you can give her on how she can break the news to him?" Ella chimed.

She scrunched her eyebrows together. "Hmm... probably just that if he gets mad after you tell him, give him some time, I'm sure he'll come around. This is a lot to take in, and you will have had a longer time to think about this then him..."

I nodded.

"That's all?" Ella asked.

"For now." Dr. Lori replied. "I want to see you again in a few weeks to see how you are feeling and how your morning sickness is going."

"Thanks, doctor." Ella said, as we both got up and left the room.

"So, you're pregnant." Ella stated, as we got into the car.

I suddenly burst into tears. "Mom... What if Ezra breaks up with me?" I put a hand on my stomach. "What if he leaves me? And the b-baby?" I cried.

Ella reached over and rubbed my back soothingly. "He won't do that honey. He's stressed out right now, but Ezra's a good man. I don't think he would do something like that to you." She assured me.

I was silent the rest of the ride home. I slipped away into my room to put the pills in my bathroom. As I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I silently thanked God for the invention of waterproof mascara. My eyes were red and puffy from all the crying that I had been doing. I closed my eyes as I envisioned Ezra's reaction to the news. Yelling, disbelief, and tears, were all I could come up with. Quickly, I fixed my make up and put my hair up into a ponytail. I took one last look in the mirror, before grabbing my keys.

"Mom, I'm going to Ezra's!" I called, as I walked out the door before she could object.

A short drive later, I found myself standing in front of apartment 3B. I raised my hand to knock on the door, but instead paused for a moment. _How am I going to tell him? What if it all comes out wrong?_ I thought. However, I told myself I had to be strong, for my sake, Ezra's, and the baby's.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A moment later, the door swung open, and there stood Ezra, who was holding a sleeping Maria in his arms. Her head was resting on his shoulder, and I couldn't help but wish that I would see this image again in the future, but with my baby. I shook my head. I couldn't keep the baby. Ezra and I were too young to have a family.

"Hey." He gently pulled me inside and shut the door behind me.

"I'll be right back, I'm just gonna go put Maria down." He smiled and walked into his room.

Looking around, I saw how messy the coffee table was. Papers were strewn all over the table, some crumbled up, some creased, and others folded. I walked over to the table and picked up one paper in particular that stood out to me. There were red markings all over it and notes in every possible space of the margins.

"_His heart stopped as she muttered the unforgivable words. It made no sense. A part of him wished she would suddenly say, 'tricked ya!' or 'hah, I got you so good!' However, he impatiently waited for the words that never came._" I read an excerpt from the sheet I had picked up.

"I see you've found my collection." I heard a voice say, causing me to jump and throw the paper back onto the table as if it were on fire.

"Oh, um.." I stammered.

"Its okay, Aria. I don't mind if you read them. They're almost all about you." He smiled.

At that moment, I realized that there was no way I could tell him about the baby now. He was so happy, and I would have felt so guilty for making him depressed.

I didn't know how to respond, so I was grateful when we heard a knock at the door.

"I bet that's Jackie, to pick up Maria." Ezra got up and answered the door.

"Hey, Ezra!" Jackie exclaimed.

He smiled and went to go get Maria. He came back a moment later, with Maria in his arms. He handed her over to Jackie, as she said, "thank you so much for keeping her for a while. I accomplished so much." She smiled hugely, not noticing my presence. I shot her a glare, as she took Maria from him, making sure her arms lingered on his for a few seconds.

"Oh, hello!" She said, finally noticing me.

I gave her a forced smile. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ezra frown, seeing straight through my smile. Jackie, however, thought my smile was genuine.

"I'm Jackie." She reached out to me to shake my hand.

"Are you-" She looked from me to Ezra, and back to me again. "Aria?"

I nodded slowly. _How did she know my name? She'd only seen me once... After she told my boyfriend she had a daughter with him..._

"It's nice to meet you!" She exclaimed. "Ezra's talked so much about you!"

I gave Ezra a confused look, as I wondered just how much he told her about us. Ezra shot me back a look that said, "I'll explain later."

"Okay, we'll we'd better go, I'll see you later Ezra!" Jackie said, as she left Ezra's apartment.

"Do you want something to drink?" Ezra asked me.

"Um, water's fine."

He handed me a glass full of ice water, causing our fingers to touch. Of course, my heartbeat sped up when our skin met.

"Aria, is everything alright?" He sat next to me on the couch. "You seem... distant."

"It's just..." I stared at my glass. "Ezra, I don't know how this is going to work."

"What are you talking about?" He asked, completely oblivious.

"I'm talking about the fact that I haven't seen you in a whole week! You spend every minute of the day with Jackie or Maria! The whole point of you taking the job at Hollis, was so we could spend more time together and so we could have a real relationship, without you risking going to jail every time you're with me." I said. "I thought this would strengthen our relationship... But honestly," I sighed. "It's only weakening it..." I finished.

"Aria, if I knew that that's how you felt, then I would have spent more time with you. But you can't blame me entirely for the past week. I've noticed that you've been avoiding me." He looked me straight in the eyes, expectantly.

"I know..." I sighed. "There's something I have to tell you." I felt my eyes well up with tears.

"Ezra... I'm p-" I was interrupted by another knock on the door. _Ugh! Whenever I get close to telling him, something screws it all up!_I thought. Ezra opened the door and standing there was Jackie, with Maria standing by her side.

"Sorry Ezra, I realized that we forgot her favorite bunny here. She realized she didn't have it and went into a fit." Jackie watched Maria as she dropped Jackie's hand and ran over to the kitchen, where her bunny was sitting on top of the counter. Maria stood next to the counter and jumped up trying to reach her bunny, her dark curls bouncing along with her, but she was too short. Ezra smiled a little as he picked up the bunny from the counter and gave it to Maria. Maria hugged it close to her chest with a content smile on her face.

"Bye!" Ezra waved to the two of them.

"Bye Daddy!" Maria said, as she and Jackie left Ezra's apartment.

Ezra sat down beside me once again. An awkward silence filled the room, as neither of us knew what to say.

"She's cute."

He nodded in agreement.

"How do you like being a dad?" I asked, making small talk to avoid having to tell him about the baby.

"It's... hard since we're still kind of young, but it's pretty cool, once you think about it. It's- I don't know how to explain it, but when you hear your child call you mommy or daddy... it just makes you feel so great." He said in awe.

"Ezra, I-" He interrupted me once again.

"Aria, look. I'm sorry for how this last week has been." A sympathetic look overtook the smile that had previously been on his face. "It's just been so crazy... I mean, it's not every day that you find out you have a daughter."

"E-Ezra.. I need-" I tried to say, but Ezra cut me off again.

"Maria is such a sweet girl, and I'm mad that Jackie kept her from me for so long," I heard him say as I closed my eyes. "But I guess I need to be thankful that she let me in her life now, right Aria? Aria!" I quickly opened my eyes.

"Are you okay? Do you need to go home?" He grabbed my hands.

"Ezra! Can you let me speak, just for a minute! Please! This is hard enough having to tell you without your interruptions! If you would just let me talk, then maybe I'd be able to tell you what's wrong." I snapped.

He immediately dropped my hands, startled from my reaction.

"There's something..." I closed my eyes as I felt the tears begin to form. "There's something I need to tell you." I whispered. "And after I do, I really hope that you'll still want to be with me... but I'll understand if you don't. But please, Ezra... don't leave us." My voice cracked, as tears streamed down my face.

"Us?" He repeated, in a ghostly voice.

I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

"Ezra... I'm pregnant." I whispered.

**There you go! Review please; I'd love to know what you guys thought! :) **


	9. Chapter 8

The sound of glass shattering filled the room as Ezra's glass of water fell to the floor.

"Y-you can't be serious right now, Aria." He stuttered.

"Do you honestly think I would make something like this up?" I asked angrily. "Ezra, yes, I lie, but not about things like this!"

"You've lied about _blinding someone_ before..." He muttered, as I shot him a dirty glare.

"You know what, maybe I shouldn't have even told you!" I hissed, looking at him in disbelief.

"Oh my God." He whispered, as tears started rolling down my cheeks. "Are you one hundred percent sure? Have you seen a doctor?"

"Yeah." I sighed, wiping my tears away. "Ella took me a week ago."

"Your mom already knows?" He shrieked.

"She was the one who suggested it in the first place when I got sick last week!" I exclaimed.

"Well what did she say?"

"She wasn't thrilled of course, but there's not much she can do at this point."

"Are you thinking of keeping him? Her? Them?" He asked, his voice full of uncertainty.

"I-I'm not sure. Either we can put them up for adoption, or keep them." I said, sadly. "Are we ready to have a family, Ezra?" I asked. "We're not even married! And you just found out you have a daughter with another woman." I shook my head. "These kids will have pretty messed up lives."

"Maybe that's why they're my offspring." He gave a small smile. "We're not the most normal couple either."

I let out a small chuckle. However, I couldn't contain my laughter from his comment for very long, because a moment later I had erupted in a fit of giggles.

"What is so funny?" He asked in a very confused tone.

I just shook my head. "Nothing." I laughed. Not long after, however, my laughter subsided, and we both felt the tenseness in the air once again.

"What are we supposed to do?" I asked. "You're going to have two children, from two different mothers." I shook my head. "This is just such a mess."

"So what now?" Ezra asked.

"I don't know. Because I don't think you can be a father for two different families, Ezra. It just won't work, no matter how hard we try..." I paused. "What are we even thinking, keeping this baby? On Sunday's, Tuesday's, and Thursdays, you'll be a dad for Maria, and on Monday's, Wednesday's, Fridays, and Saturday's, you'll be the father of my baby?" I exclaimed. "We can't do that to either of them!"

"Why are you making me choose a child?" He asked in frustration.

"Because you have to! We can't play the game, where some days you're Maria's daddy, and other days, you're my child's daddy! I'm not going to let you do that to them; it's cruel and it will drive them both crazy!" I cried.

Ezra put his head in his hands. A moment later, he looked back up at me.

"I don't have to choose." He muttered. "We can make this work, somehow, someway."

I shook my head. _There is no way that this is going to work._

"I should be happy, shouldn't I? The woman I love and I are having a baby..." He started. "But... this is so screwed up." He had a pained expression on his face. "You're a junior in high school, Aria... and I just ruined your life." He finished, sadly.

"Don't say that!" I exclaimed. "I love you, Ezra, and we were planning for this all to happen eventually... Well, not the part with Maria... But it just happened a little bit sooner than we were hoping." I held his hand in mine.

"A-Aria. You don't understand. People are going to be talking like crazy. Rosewood isn't the biggest town in the world. Do you realize how much trouble we can get in if people figure out that we were together while I taught at Rosewood?" He paled.

"They're not going to figure it out, and we're not going to tell anybody. We never did anything while we were teacher and student. If anyone asks, we got together after you quit your job at Rosewood, and if it is completely necessary to tell them that you're the father, we can say the baby was conceived in like two weeks or so, and lie about the baby being born early or something. I don't know. But Ezra... We've been through everything the world can possibly throw at us and more. I'm pretty sure we'll be able to get through this." I smiled softly.

"You're right..." He sighed. "We're having a baby, Aria... Besides the fact of how messed up this is, it's actually kind of exciting." He smiled.

"That's the Ezra I know and love." I looked into his piercing eyes before our lips met in a gentle kiss. His hand moved from my cheek, down to my shoulder, before finally resting protectively on top of my stomach. We broke apart a moment later.

"We should probably clean that up." I motioned to the broken glass scattered on the floor as I got up from the couch.

"That can wait." He clutched my arm and gently pulled me back to the couch. I slipped in the process, and ended up falling straight into Ezra's lap. I giggled as I tried to sit upright again.

"I love you." He laughed, before kissing me again.

"Move in with me." Ezra suddenly demanded.

"Um... that decision is not exactly up to me, even though you know I'd accept." I hooked my arms around his neck.

"C'mon, we're having a baby, and there's not enough room at your house, and I already own this place. If worst comes to worst, I can buy a bigger apartment for the three of us." He begged.

"We, Ezra. Not you, we. When we get married, my money will be your money too."

"Aria, you can't be serious. You should save your money for college. I'll take care of it."

"I don't think so." I shook my head. "My parents are paying for college. That money is mine. And it's quite a lot." I blushed.

He looked at me expectantly.

"Okay fine. Every year, each of my parents gives Mike and I a certain amount of money to help us for a few years when we're older. They've been doing it since we were born, so naturally, I have more than Mike."

"How much do they give you every year?"

"A couple thousand..." I said slowly.

"Like two? Three?" He asked.

"Nine?" I said slowly.

"You get nine thousand dollars from your parents every year." He stated in disbelief.

I bit my lip and nodded.

"So you currently hold..." He paused for a moment while doing the math in his head. "144,000 dollars?" He exclaimed.

"And... whatever else my parents feel like giving us... plus all the money from birthdays, Christmases, and such..." I trailed off.

"Wow." He exclaimed and shook his head.

"Okay, enough about that, we can discuss that with my parents!" I got up from his lap and walked towards the kitchen.

"Ezra, where's your broom?"

**Next chapter will be up either tonight or tomorrow, and that's when they're going to break the news to Byron! Review please and let me know what you thought about his reaction! :) **


	10. Chapter 10

**I love how all of us who write Ezria stories that include Jackie portray her as this horrible person; yet we've only seen her on the show once, for like five seconds. It's probably because she broke Ezra's heart... That's definitely why I hate her! Also, I'm going to apologize in advance if at any time you all feel as if I'm making this story go too fast. I have an intense chapter(s) planned for this baby's birth, and I can't wait to share it with you guys! Enjoy! **

"Why are you so nervous?" I asked Ezra, whose hand was literally shaking in mine in anxiousness.

"You haven't told your dad about the baby yet, have you?" He realized.

"Dang. I completely forgot!" I exclaimed.

"Y-you forgot to tell your dad you're pregnant?" He started to freak out. "How do you _forget_something like that, Aria?"

"Because my mom already knew and I figured she would tell him! Ezra, stop." I commanded, as he was about to run from the front door and hop back into the car. "At the rate you're going, you're going to drive yourself crazy."

I stood on my tiptoes to give him a quick kiss, before unlocking the front door. I took his hand in mine and together, we walked into the living room where Mike was watching TV.

"Can someone _please_tell me what is going on with you and Mr. Fitz, Aria?" Mike asked, jumping up from his spot on the couch. "Because _this,_" He gestured to my hand in Ezra's, "Just isn't normal."

"Do you remember when you told me that mom and dad were fighting about some boy in my room a few weeks back?"

Mike nodded.

"Well..." I looked at Ezra.

"Oh God," Mike gasped. "Our old English teacher is your boyfriend?" He asked in disbelief.

I nodded sheepishly before speaking again.

"Something else has happened though... that we need to talk to you guys about... Mom... already... knows." I sighed.

I walked over to the kitchen, looking for Ella. As soon as she spotted me, she came over to me and gave me a hug.

"Did you tell him?" She whispered into my ear.

"Yep."

"How did it go?" She asked.

"Well, aside from the initial shock of it all, not bad. But now... we have to tell Byron and Mike." I bit my lip as I pulled away from her embrace.

"Just take it slow. Don't say anything too fast, and give them time to process this."

I nodded and took a deep breath, before we walked back into the living room together. Ezra was sitting alone on the couch engaged in conversation with Mike and Byron who were sitting across from him. I sat down next to Ezra as Ella sat down beside me.

"What's going on?" Mike asked.

"Are you sick or something?" Byron asked.

Ezra and I exchanged a glance that failed to go unnoticed by my father.

"Well..." Ezra took a deep breath.

"Um, something happened, not long ago... that's going to change a lot of things around here..." I started rocking back and forth on the couch in nervousness.

"What do you mean?" Byron asked in an extremely confused tone.

I closed my eyes for a moment. "Daddy..." I whispered, as tears started falling down my face. Ezra took hold of my hand and held it tightly, probably trying to assure me that everything was going to be okay. "Please don't be mad." I whispered. "It's my fault, not Ezra's."

"Okay, I'm getting scared. What the hell happened?" Mike asked, with a panicked look on his face.

"I-I'm-." I couldn't go on. I looked to my mother for support.

"She's pregnant Byron. Aria's pregnant." Ella said. I watched as the tears that were clinging to her eyelashes spilled over.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Byron exclaimed as he violently stood up, knocking into the coffee table causing his cup of coffee to spill on the table. The hot liquid trailed down from the table onto the hardwood floors. My mom was definitely going to have fun cleaning that up."This is a really sick joke."

"Dad... it's not a joke." I whispered. I looked over to Ezra, who had been completely silent during the whole affair.

"You got my little girl pregnant! You better say good-bye to her now, because you're never going to see her again." He spat at Ezra, before going in for a punch.

"Byron!" Ella screamed at the same time as I cried, "Dad stop!" I threw myself in front of Ezra, shielding him from my father.

"If anyone is going to get in trouble, it's me! Not him! I'm the one who's pregnant!" I was breathing heavily now and Byron was shaking violently from anger. I shook my head in disbelief at the realization that my father, who had, ten minutes ago, been perfectly accepting of my relationship with Ezra, but was now ready to beat the crap out of him.

I carefully watched Byron as he slowly sat back down. Ella sat down beside him and put her hand on top of his, most likely so she could restrain him from attacking Ezra again if Byron came to it.

"You're pregnant by your teacher, Aria?" Byron dug his fingernails into his palm of his free hand.

"I'm pregnant by my _boyfriend."_I clarified.

"Mike," Ella suddenly said, realizing Mike was still among them in the room. "Why don't you go to a friends' house or something while we talk to Aria and Ezra, okay? You can stay the night."

Mike shrugged in agreement, before disappearing from the room.

"I can't believe this." Byron shook his head. "So you not only got my daughter pregnant, but you are also slowly and painfully breaking my girls' heart with your other child." He stated.

I looked over to Ezra, not sure what to say. My dad was right, in one sense. Ezra opened his mouth to protest, but I beat him to it.

"Ezra and I... are working that issue out on our own." I told him. When my dad did not respond, waiting for more, I spoke again. "We're figuring it out." I assured him. "We'll be okay."

I glanced at Ezra, who nodded in agreement.

"I'm really disappointed in you, Aria. I expected a lot more from you." He looked at Ezra. "You too. You're the older one here. And the _teacher_. Shouldn't you know right from wrong? And don't you know how to use a damn condom?" Aria flinched at the idea of her dad envisioning her having sex with Ezra.

"Byron!" Ella exclaimed. "Stop! Leave Ezra alone! This was as much of Aria's fault as Ezra's!"

"And why are you being so calm about this?" Byron raged.

Ella was silent.

"You already knew?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"She knew before _me_!" I defended Ella.

"What the hell? How does that work?" He asked, thoroughly confused. I relaxed a bit knowing the focus of the conversation was off of Ezra. He had already been through enough today and most certainly did not need my dad to pile up the guilt for him.

"She asked me if I was, and I told her I didn't know..." I babbled.

"Aria, I swear, you're ruining this family!" He shouted.

"You know what Dad? You're the one who tore this freaking family apart in the first place!" I yelled.

"I'm leaving guys!" Mike informed us, at the worst possible time.

"And you're just adding fuel to the fire!" He roared at me, completely ignoring Mike. I cowered down and sunk into the couch. Ezra put his arms around me, holding me protectively. I watched Mike from the corner of my eye. His facial expression expressed intense pain and sorrow. I turned back to the scene in front of me, as soon as Mike silently slipped out the door.

"Mr. Montgomery," Ezra finally spoke. "I know that this isn't the most ideal situation you would want for Aria, but can't we make something good come out of it?" He pleaded. "It doesn't have to be completely horrible. Haven't you ever heard the saying, that there's always light in the darkness?"

I looked at Ezra, half out of pure love, and half out of complete disbelief. Last time I checked, Ezra was an English teacher, not a religion teacher.

Byron did not say anything, so Ezra took that as his cue to continue his theory.

"Well, we can find a way to not make this situation a complete lose-lose situation, can't we?"

"My daughter is having a baby with her English teacher at sixteen! What _good_can come out of that situation?" He muttered under his breath, loud enough for all of us to hear.

"Okay, that is enough!" I stood up from the couch and looked at my dad. "_Ezra,_is NO LONGER my teacher. He is my _boyfriend._Okay? Why is that so hard to understand?" I desperately cried.

No one said a word after my comment, so Ezra spoke again.

"I care about Aria more than anyone and anything in the world, and I promise that I will be there for her and our baby forever." Ezra vowed.

"You have two families." Byron shot Ezra a dirty look. "How are you going to take care of Aria and her baby when you're with that other girl, Jaime or whatever her name is?" Byron glared at Ezra.

Ezra did not know how to respond, so he kept quiet.

"I knew it! You don't know! I don't know who you're trying to fool that this is all going to work out Fitz, but it's definitely not me."

I looked at Ella whose face reflected the fear etched in mine. I silently wished that she would interrupt the conversation that was coming up in flames and change the subject. As a mother, she seemed to sense my discomfort, and immediately jumped into the conversation with a whole different issue.

"Are you guys thinking of keeping the baby?" Ella asked.

Ezra and I shared a knowing look, before I turned back to my mom and nodded. "Yeah, we think we want to."

"Where's the baby going to stay when they come? Back and forth, our house to Ezra's apartment? That's a pain." Ella asked.

Ezra and I shared a glance once again.

"Well... I was thinking that maybe, I could move in with Ezra, so that we could be together, like as a family, you know." I bit my lip, silently praying in my head that they would not object to this new idea.

"I don't really like the idea of you two living together without being married... but-"

"No. You're not living together if you're not married." Byron interrupted.

"I was saying," She glared at Byron. "_That since you're having a baby_, I guess I'll be a bit more lenient."

"What? HELL NO!" Byron exclaimed, looking at Ella in disbelief. "You're going to let them live together without being married? _What has happened to you?"_He screeched. "You wouldn't even live with _me_before we were married!"

"Dad, we'll be married soon enough."

"Oh my God, don't tell me he already proposed." Byron's body was shaking in rage.

I glanced at Ezra and shook my head.

"Not yet." Ezra told him. '_Not yet.'_Ezra had said. Not _no,_but _not yet._My heart rate sped up for a moment, as I realized that Ezra wanted me to be his forever. _Forever._He was mine, and no one was ever going to come between us. Not Jackie, not Maria, not anyone.

A moment of silence passed as the atmosphere of the previously tense room became somewhat calmer. Byron was breathing at a normal pace once again, and was slouching again the side of the couch next to Ella, whose hand was in Byron's.

"What are you going to do about school?" Ella asked.

I bit my lip. "I don't know... I'm not sure how comfortable I feel going to school pregnant." I confessed.

"We could do homeschooling?" Byron muttered.

"Would you?" I asked, hopeful. "I don't think I'd be able to handle all the rumors and nasty glares in the halls."

Suddenly I gasped as a realization came to me. "Oh God, what if they find out you're the father?" I motioned towards Ezra. "I can hear the rumors already."

"That's fine, honey." Ella placed her cup onto the coffee table. "You don't have to tell anyone you don't want to. And if anyone asks, you can make up a name of who he is."

I nodded in agreement.

"So now, we're going to need to set you up with a homeschooling program. How are we going to do this though?"

"A girl I know did homeschooling for a year. She said that it's all online classes, so if I lived with Ezra, I wouldn't need an adult or anyone to teach me anything." I said, nervously playing with one of the rings on my hand.

"Just... wait a few minutes before we talk about moving. Let's just... talk about your education right now." Ella sighed.

"If Aria _were_ to do homeschooling, I could teach her English... So she wouldn't have to take an online course for that." Ezra offered.

"That makes complete sense." Ella said.

"Wait. Are you being serious right now, or sarcastic?" I asked, skeptically.

"Both. Don't be offended by this, but I'm not sure how much I can trust that you'll actually teach her during her class time, and not do... other things."

Byron nodded in agreement.

"Would you be able to teach her anything else? Like math or science?" Ella wondered.

However, Ezra started shaking his head 'no' as soon as the word 'math' came up.

"I'm dead awful in Math; can't do it to save my life. That's why I took the English route." He gave a small smile.

"That's so true." I giggled. "Once I asked Ezra for help with my math homework, and he just ended up making me more confused." I smiled at him.

"So we can set you up with a homeschooling program, that won't be a big problem. I assume that you two will get married in the future, right?" Ella said, bringing the conversation back to it's original topic.

Ezra and I nodded at the same time.

"Would it be better if we got married before the baby comes, versus after?" Ezra contemplated.

"It's your wedding, so whatever you want." Ella shrugged.

I bit my lip, pondering everything they were saying. I was only a junior in high school, and we were already talking about marriage and leaving home. All due to the fact that I was having a baby. A wave of sadness washed over me, as I realized that I wasn't ready for any of this. _How was I supposed to be a good wife to Ezra, while I was still in high school? How am I supposed to be a good mother, when I still have other responsibilities, like homework, and such? How are we going to pay for anything? I'll have to get a job, and all my dreams of going to college and majoring in English, and writing a bestselling novel are going to go down the drain. I can't do any of that with a baby. _I hadn't realized that I had started crying again until Ezra spoke.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Ezra asked, soothingly.

"I-I won't be able to do anything anymore. No more hanging out with friends, no more going to parties, no more fun. I'm just a teenager. I'm still in high school, and I'm going to get married, and move out of my house, and have a baby, all before I graduate. I won't be able to write a best seller after college, and my whole life plan is screwed up, all because I'll always be too busy taking care of a baby." I whispered, as tears streamed down my face.

Ezra soothingly rubbed my back, trying to comfort me. I felt my phone vibrate against my hip and pulled it out of my pocket. I gasped when I read the latest text.

**I hear there's going to be a new baby in the house! Hope all goes well and I don't kill them before they even get a chance to live! -A**

**I CANNOT WAIT FOR TOMORROW! The debut of shirtless Ezra Fitz! It's going to be the greatest day ever! Wow, this was a long chapter (compared to the other ones) Hope you liked it, please review with your thoughts! :) **


	11. Chapter 11

"I think we all need some time to think about all of this." Ella looked around the room, her eyes lingering on each of us for a moment, before moving to the next person. I shoved my phone back into my pocket, frightened. _How did A know I was pregnant? Oh right, Aria. A knows everything. _

Byron nodded in agreement, before standing up.

"Why don't we all go grab some ice cream or something? We can go to the little parlor off of 45th avenue." Byron suggested, trying to lighten the tension in the room.

I looked over to Ezra, who had a confused look on his face. I shrugged, thankful to be leaving the rigid atmosphere.

"I'll ride with Ezra." I grabbed Ezra's hand and pulled him out the door with me, before Ella or Byron could object.

"That was..." Ezra started to say, as soon as we walked outside.

"Intense?" I finished.

"No." He shook his head. "I was going to say that it went much much better than the scenario I envisioned in my head." He chuckled.

"You know that this is all fake right?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't think they actually accept our relationship and this baby as much as they're showing us they do." I sighed as I got into the passenger seat of his car.

"I'm sure they'll come around eventually." Ezra assured me, as he put the keys into the ignition.

He leaned over to kiss me, before we left the driveway.

During the ride, I watched him intently, noticing his habit of drumming his fingers against the steering wheel as he waited for the lights to change from red to green. He noticed me staring at him and chuckled.

"What are you thinking about?" He took my hand in his. I looked down at our intertwined hands and admired how perfectly they fit together. No one else's hand was shaped more perfectly to fit inside mine.

I smiled a little before answering. "You know, this is the first time we're going out in public as a couple."

"It's a little scary, huh? And your parents will be there with us." He nodded.

"If we see anyone from school, it'll be so awkward!" I sighed.

"Aria, why? When have we ever cared what other people think of us?" He looked genuinely confused.

"We don't... It's just weird, I guess." I shrugged, as we pulled into the parking lot.

He didn't say anything in reply as he shut the ignition off. I unbuckled my seatbelt and was about to open my door, before I noticed that Ezra was staring off ahead of us.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, moving closer to him, trying to see what he was seeing.

"Nothing." He shook his head. "Just... thought it was someone I knew." He smiled at me before getting out of the car.

I squinted ahead of me trying to see whoever it was that he was seeing, but no one familiar came into my view.

"There are your parents. Come on." He gave a light tug of my hand, urging me to walk forward.

We entered the parlor to find my parents sitting at a far booth near a window eating their ice cream, as if there was no other care in the world. I smiled, thankful that they were able to act civil in public, after the news we just broke to my dad.

"Hey." Ezra and I said in unison, as we sat down across from them.

My mom gave me a small smile, before handing me some money.

"Here, this is for you and Ezra."

"You don't have to do that; I can pay for my own." Ezra shook his head.

"You're practically family now; I can pay for your ice cream, Ezra."

Ezra smiled at Ella, before we walked to the other side of the shop.

"Mhmm..." I licked my lips, admiring the many different flavors. "I love ice cream." I gushed. "It's my absolute favorite thing in the world." I closed my eyes in bliss. "Besides you of course." I winked at Ezra, who chuckled before placing his order.

"I'll have a scoop of rocky road, please." He turned to me, waiting for me to choose.

"Can I have... A scoop of cookie dough and a scoop of cookies and cream, with caramel on top?" I asked, giving the cashier a sweet smile.

"Sure, that'll be five twenty five." He said, as I handed him my mothers' money.

I turned to Ezra.

"I have a feeling that this baby is going to love ice cream just as much as her mother." I nodded my head, making a very serious face.

"I think I'll be able to deal with that." He smiled that boyish smile I loved, before we took our ice cream. We walked back over to my parents, who were just finishing up theirs.

"Seeing that you guys are already done..." I laughed, motioning to my parents' empty cups of ice cream.

"Oh." Ella looked down at her cup. "Well... we're going to start heading home, so we'll see you at home later?" Ella's voice came out as more of a question that a statement. I noticed that she had a distant look in her eyes; I'd have to ask her what was going on later.

I bit my lip and nodded, as I watched my parents slide out of their booth.

"Do you want to stay here? We can go take a walk in the park around the corner, instead." Ezra said, scooping up a bit of ice cream and putting it in his mouth.

"I would love that, Mr. Fitz." I took his hand in mine as we made our way out of the little shop.

As we strolled into the park, I looked around, taking in the peaceful surroundings. Little children were playing on the swings, while their mothers stood behind them, watching their child closely. I spotted an older couple sitting together on one of the benches on the far side of the park. The woman's head was resting on her husbands' shoulder, and they were holding hands, watching the children playing on the slide near them. I couldn't help but wish that one day Ezra and I would be like them. Growing old together, surrounded by our grandchildren. Mother ducks waddled their way around the park, with their babies following closely behind them. The waters of the lake were clear and calm. The birds sat in trees chirping away. It was a perfect fairytale scene, as me and the love of my life walked along a stone path through the park.

"This is enchanting." I swung Ezra's hand with mine.

"It's so peaceful here, like there's nothing bad in the world." He nodded in agreement.

"It's like a fairy tale." I smiled. "When I was younger, I used to always imagine my life like this. Me and my prince together forever, in a fairy tale land, living happily ever after." I laughed.

"After my parents split up, I gave up on thinking that a life like this could actually exist." He laughed. "And then I met you." He said, with the biggest smile on his face. "And I realized that it can exist all the time. This love, content, and peacefulness. Everything just feels so right, as long as I'm with you."

I looked into his baby blue eyes, seeing only love and admiration. He placed a finger on my chin and titled my head up, so he could kiss me. Our lips met in a gentle and tender kiss; making the moment even more perfect. I felt the familiar tingles that came every time Ezra so much as touched me. As we pulled away at the same time, both of us broke out into breathtaking smiles. I knew that no matter how long we were together, I would never get tired of Ezra Fitz. We were made for each other, no matter what anyone else said or thought.

That's when I remembered that we were in public, in Rosewood, one of the smallest towns in Pennsylvania. I looked around to make sure I didn't know anyone who was here. However, through my peripheral vision, I was barely able to make out a figure in all black, who quickly, it seemed, made sure that they were out of my view.

"What's wrong?" Ezra asked, sensing my sudden discomfort.

"N-nothing." I blinked, trying to figure out if I was hallucinating or not. I definitely just saw someone in all black, who was watching me pretty closely. I gasped as I realized who this person probably was.

"A." I whispered, quietly.

Ezra somehow, managed to hear me. "What?" He stopped walking, and turned to me, confused.

I realized that I needed to tell him about A, and soon. I knew he would worry and become over protective of me and the baby, especially if I showed him the text that A had sent me earlier. I just felt so bad involving Ezra in A's games. I shook my head, knowing that I had to protect Ezra. He, she, shim, whatever the correct term is, was definitely going to pay if they ever came near my baby. I knew that both Ezra and I would make sure of it.

I was pulled out of my train of thought, as I heard the high pitched voice of a little girl get louder, as she came closer, screaming, "Daddy!"

**The beginning was mostly fluff, and then the end got more dramatic :) Hope you liked, and don't forget to leave a review please! I love knowing what you guys think and how I can improve my story! :) **


	12. Chapter 12

**Wow! That Ezria kiss in Tuesday's episode was definitely the best one I've ever seen! That was the greatest scene ever! :) (I just kind of wish they would have said 'I love you' to each other... would've made the scene even greater than perfect!) **

"Ezra! Wow, nice seeing you here!" Jackie exclaimed, as she picked Maria up and held her on her hip.

"Yeah." Ezra replied, as he nervously ran his hand through his already messy hair.

I sighed and looked away. This was supposed to be my time with Ezra. We were supposed to be with each other, having a good day today, without other people. Of course though, Jackie had to show up to ruin the moment. Why is it, that every time I am truly content, something has to happen? First it was hiding my dad's secret affair, then it was Jackie, and now it's both Jackie and A. When am I ever going to get a break?

"How are you, Aria?" Jackie asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Dandy." I gave her a fake smile.

Ezra frowned, confused at my sudden mood change.

"How are you?" Ezra asked, as he watched Maria struggled to leave her mothers' arms. Jackie let her down, and Ezra watched as Maria ran back over to the swings.

"Great, I just wanted to bring Maria to the park. She loves playing on the swings." She motioned towards Maria.

"Well, it was nice seeing you here." Ezra gave a small tug on my arm, as he started walking away.

I remained quiet after the affair, however, my annoyance at Jackie failed to go unnoticed by Ezra.

"Aria, are you okay?" Ezra led me by the hand and pulled me over to a bench on the side of the path we were walking along. He sat down and pulled me onto his lap. Reluctantly, I obliged, as he wrapped his arms around my waist, his hands resting protectively over my stomach.

He looked into my eyes and saw the fear that was visible in them.

"Tell me what's wrong." He whispered to me. I shivered, but not from the cold, as I felt his warm breath fan my ear. I smiled a little, as he started playing with my dangling earrings.

I looked ahead into the distance and let out a small sigh. Everything seemed so peaceful, at first glance. However, as I continued looking around me, the happiness in the air that I previously had felt, started to shrink away. I noticed now, that the old woman and man that I had seen earlier, were now fighting. The waters of the lake were not at all calm and clear as I had perceived them at first, but were actually rough and filled with moss, leaves, and dirt. The sun was now going down, casting a dark shadow across the park. How was I supposed to tell him about A? I bit my lip as I contemplated this. I did not want to worry him, however, he had a right to know that there was a crazy obsessive stalker on the loose, going after me and our baby, right? I knew that A would probably do something crazy, like try to kill me, if I told Ezra, or anyone for that matter, about her... him... shim... but I cannot give A that much power and satisfaction over me, can I?

I was pulled out of my train of thought as I felt a raindrop hit my arm. I looked up to see the dark sky slowly letting more and more rain drops fall onto the earth. A smile escaped my lips as I recalled a previous memory of Ezra and I kissing in the rain, not long after we first met. I got up from Ezra's lap and grabbed him by the hands, pulling him up alongside me. By this time, the rain was coming down hard and my clothes were starting to cling to my petite figure. I slid one of my arms around Ezra's neck, while the other grazed his cheek. He must have felt my exact emotions entirely, because less than a second later, he had pulled me in for a passionate kiss. He crushed my body to his and I felt my feet being lifted a few inches off the ground. I tightened my hold around his neck, as I arched my body against his. I tangled my fingers in his hair as he held me closer. I felt him breathing heavily against me as we broke apart for air and stared into each others' eyes.

"Let's get you home." Ezra whispered as he brushed a piece of my hair away from my eyes.

"Mine or yours?" I looked at him with an expression I knew he couldn't resist saying no to, hoping he would choose the latter.

"The one that will soon be ours." Ezra smiled, as he released his grip on me and took hold of my hand. As we ran to his car together, I made sure to jump into all the puddles in my path, resulting in a sopping wet Ezra Fitz.

When we entered the car, Ezra made sure to blast the heat as soon as we sat down. I took off my soaking wet jacket and threw it into the backseat. I giggled as Ezra did the same.

A few moments later, Ezra and I found ourselves standing outside apartment 3B.

As we walked inside, Ezra went straight into his bedroom, in search for some warm, dry, clothes. I followed him into the room and slid my shoes off next to the closet.

"Maybe you should keep some clothes here, for occasions such as this." Ezra handed me an oversized Hollis T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that were too small for him. I took them from his hands and tilted my head a little bit to the side.

"I won't have to, if I'll be living here soon." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"True." He chuckled as he slid off his shirt and threw it into a pile with my wet clothes. After he had taken off his wet clothes, I gathered up all the drenched clothes and put them into the dryer.

As I walked back into the living room, I twisted my hair up into a bun, so it would not get the back of my shirt all wet. Grabbing a random magazine off the coffee table, I plopped down on the far side of the couch leaning against the armrest and started flipping through the pages. A few moments later, Ezra came out of the bathroom in a robe and sat down on the other side of the couch.

"Have you talked to your parents?" Ezra inquired, as I propped my legs up in his lap.

I shook my head as I set the magazine down and looked towards the window. I watched as two raindrops raced themselves down the glass.

"Aria, are you okay?" Ezra asked me once again. "You seem... distracted, or distant... I don't know."

"The realization just... hasn't sunk in yet." I whispered, still staring at the window.

"About the baby?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

I shook my head. _No Ezra, the realization about how much power A has over me and our baby. The realization that there is no way that this is going to work. Any of this. You, me, this baby, Jackie, Maria, A... It's all just a big mess. _I thought.

"Then what is it?" He asked quietly, as he brought my whole body closer to him by pulling my legs across and over his lap. **(Did anyone else see this extra scene on iTunes? It was so cute!) **

I took a deep breath as I felt my eyes begin to water.

"Ezra there's..." I sighed. "There's something I need to tell you."

"I-is everything okay with the baby?" He asked in a worried tone, as he pulled me even closer to him.

"Um... Kind of?" I shrugged my shoulders.

He looked at me with worry and fear etched all over his face, waiting for me to continue.

"Ezra, do you realize how much you mean to me? How important it is for me to tell you this? I can't keep hiding things from you anymore, it just hurts too much. I love you more than words can describe, and it physically aches to ever think of you leaving me." I wiped the tears that had escaped my eyes with my hand, and placed my other hand on my stomach.

"I wish that you, me, and this baby could live happily ever after, like we wanted it all to be, and I wish I was a little bit older, and out of high school, but we can just try to make the best out of the situation we have, right? We can make this work, I know we can. We managed to keep our relationship a secret for months. And even though we were confined to the walls of your apartment, that's just one small part of what makes our relationship so special!"

"We can make this work, Aria." He nodded in agreement. "But what is it that you want to tell me?"

"Ezra... In order for me to tell you the full story, I need my friends' help. I know that if I tell you alone, I'll miss something crucial in the explanation." I sighed. "But that means that we need to tell the girls about us."

"That's fine. Our relationship is public now anyway, right?" He said softy, as he stroked my cheek.

I nodded as I grabbed my phone from the coffee table. I quickly sent a text to Emily, Spencer, and Hanna telling them that I needed to talk to them and that they needed to pretend that they did not know about my relationship with Ezra. After I got affirmative replies from all the girls, I dialed Emily.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey Em, let me get Hanna on the line." I put her on hold while I added Hanna to the call.

"Hey Aria." Hanna answered after two rings.

I took Emily off hold as I said, "Hanna's on the line, let me get Spencer."

I put them on hold as I dialed up Spencer.

"Hi Aria, what's up?" She asked me when she answered.

"Em and Han are on the line too." I said, as Hanna and Emily both greeted Spencer at the same time.

"It's so complicated to get all your friends on the line." Ezra laughed. I just smiled in response as I put them all on speaker.

"So what's up?" Spencer asked.

"Um. Well... I wanted you guys to meet my boyfriend. And I want to tell him about... that thing." I said hesitantly.

"Are you sure, Aria?" Emily asked, uncertainly.

"Can we trust him?" Spencer asked in a shushed voice.

"Definitely. I-I can't hide this from him anymore." I glanced at Ezra then looked towards the window again.

"Okay, if you're sure." Hanna said.

"Are you at home?" Emily asked, knowing I was with Ezra.

"No. Um, I'll text you the address." I bit my lip.

"Okay, we'll see you soon." Spencer said before hanging up.

"See you." Hanna and Emily said at the same time, as I hung up. I quickly sent them another text with Ezra's address and apartment number.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked Ezra as I bit my lip.

"What am I getting ready for? Is what you need to tell me that bad?"

"Yeah. It is." I said, as I heard a knock on Ezra's door. I jumped up from the couch and opened the door.

"Your boyfriend has an apartment?" Hanna squealed, not seeing Ezra on the couch. Or maybe she did see him and was just continuing to participate in the charade. Emily and Spencer entered after her, as Hanna threw her jacket onto the nearest armchair. Spencers and Emily's joined the pile a moment later. Hanna spotted Ezra, who was facing us from the couch.

"Y-you're boyfriend is Mr. Fitz?" Spencer exclaimed. I smiled a little at her amazing job of pretending that she didn't know about Ezra's and my relationship.

"W-what in the world is going on?" Emily asked, pretending that she didn't know about Ezra and I.

"No wonder you got such good grades in English." Hanna smirked, as Ezra rolled his eyes.

"Miss Marin, I promise I never gave Aria the slightest bit extra credit or anything of the sort." He tried assuring her.

"Call her Hanna." I ordered him. "You're not her teacher anymore."

"I'm just messing with you." Hanna laughed.

"Nice place." Emily gestured to the living room, being polite.

Ezra gave her a small smile in response.

"How long have you been together?" Emily asked.

"Since labor day." I answered.

"How in the world did you guys not get caught?" Spencer asked as she walked over to Ezra's bookshelf and started reading the titles.

"We were careful." I winked at Ezra.

Hanna snorted. I glared at her, knowing that she was referring to when she caught Ezra and I kissing in the woods at Mona's birthday party.

"You know what, this is getting annoying." Hanna snapped. "Ezra, we already know about you and Aria."

He looked at me with wide eyes, and I was able to detect a little bit of hurt in them, due to the fact that I did not tell him that my friends knew about us.

"I'm sorry, Ezra." I whispered, with a pained expression on my face. "They kind of found out on their own." I bit my lip.

"How?" He asked, shocked. "I thought we had been so careful!"

"I thought so too." I agreed.

"I saw you two kissing in the woods at Mona's birthday party." Hanna grinned.

"Oh." Ezra's face turned red.

I giggled, as Spencer and Emily smiled at me.

"Are you going to tell him?" Hanna asked quietly.

"Look at this first." I said, frightened, as the girls gathered around me. I opened my latest text from A and showed it to the girls. I purposely blocked my phone's screen from Ezra's view. The girls gasped as the read the text.

"Do you think A's being serious?" Emily had fear written all over her face.

"It's A, Emily!" Spencer exclaimed quietly. "Of course they're being serious!"

"What is going on?" Ezra asked, his voice full of confusion.

I took a deep breath and turned to Ezra as I shut my phone. I sat back down next to Ezra on the couch, in my previous spot. He wrapped his arms around me and asked me once again, "What's going on, Aria?"

Emily, Spencer, and Hanna sat down in chairs opposing us. I could tell that they were a little nervous about telling Ezra about A. Hanna kept glancing at the window, as if A's masked face was going to show up at any moment. Spencer was fidgeting with the bracelet on her wrist, and Emily was biting her lip in anxiety.

I turned my body so that I faced Ezra.

"There's this person... who calls themselves A, who's been stalking us." I started.

"This person knows everything about us and all of our secrets." Emily added.

"They're constantly threatening to expose our secrets and-" Spencer told Ezra.

"They make us do things that can break our friendship apart." Hanna slumped against her chair.

"What do you mean? Like what?" Ezra asked Hanna.

"Don't... get mad at her, Ezra, but while you were still our teacher, Hanna almost exposed our relationship to my parents."

He looked at me with a fearful look in his eyes. However, I was able to detect a little bit of anger that had appeared in them that was directed towards Hanna.

"How?" He asked, in a strained voice.

"A gave Hanna a ticket to the museum that we went to on our first date to give to my mom, so that my mom could catch us together." Aria revealed.

"But... wait, so did she catch us or not?" He shook his head in a confused manner.

"No, she didn't. Caleb, Hanna's..." I looked at Hanna, not knowing how to describe what Caleb was to Hanna, since they had recently broken up.

"Ex-boyfriend."

"Okay, Hanna's ex, had messed up my mom's car so that she couldn't make it to the museum. All in all, she never saw us together."

He nodded, wanting me to continue with my story.

"Thank you girls, for keeping our secret." Ezra said.

"No problem, we know how much Aria loves you and we would never to anything to hurt her." Spencer shifted in her chair.

"So when did this A person start... stalking you?" Ezra asked.

"Since the first day of school." I said, opening up my phone.

"Here are all the texts A has ever sent me. The first A message I've ever received was on the first day of school, right after I found out you were my teacher. Remember when my phone went off? That was a message from A." I handed my phone to Ezra.

Ezra gasped as he scrolled through the messages A had sent me.

"How-How did A know about us?"

"That bitch knows everything." Hanna said, hopelessly.

"Have you told the police?" Ezra asked desperately.

"A will kill us before we even step foot into the police station." Emily said.

"Remember when I got run over by that car, a few months ago?" Hanna asked.

"Don't tell me that A did that?" Ezra asked, shocked. "But why?"

"A thought I found out who they were." Hanna said simply.

Ezra shook his head.

"I'm so sorry that you guys have had to deal with this... Wait, so since you told me about A, A's not going to kill anyone, are they?"

"No one knows what A's going to do next." I said bitterly, looking out the window once again.

**Over 620 of you out there read the last chapter, but I only got 8 reviews. Please, please, please leave a review! Anything as simple as telling me to update, or something you liked about the chapter, is sufficient. It really means a lot to me, and it makes me want to write and update faster! I don't want to be annoying and beg for reviews, but I was a little disappointed by the amount I received considering the amount of people who are reading my story. Anyways, I hoped you liked this chapter! Now... review! :D **


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry this took so long, but to see the Ezria clip from the last chapter, go to iTunes, search "Pretty Little Liars Season 2" and then there is a clip that says, "Secrets Revealed: The Men of Rosewood." It should be the third one that comes up and the scene where he's kind of pulling her onto his lap is at 25 seconds. Isn't it great? :) **

The next day, Ezra was invited over to my house for dinner with my family and to discuss future plans once again.

"So what are we going to say about me leaving school?" I asked my mom, as I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. I sat down at the table and watched my mom scurry around the kitchen getting dinner ready.

"Byron and I called the school while you were out with Ezra yesterday." Ella replied, as she pulled a pan of potatoes out of the oven.

"And?" I unscrewed the cap from my water bottle and took a sip. "What did you tell them?" I asked, as I got up from my chair and took the potatoes from Ella's hands to set them on the table.

"That you were having some problems going on at school, and that we wanted to homeschool you for a few months. Since today's Friday, we'll have a few days to get everything ready for your first day." She shrugged, as she placed some plates onto the table.

"Oh." I said, shocked. "Why didn't you tell them that I'm… pregnant?" I asked, surprised.

"Did you want me to?" She furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Uh, no." I replied, startled. "I just… thought you were going to."

"No, honey. You didn't tell me to, so I didn't." She gave me a small smile.

I guess my mom had my back a little bit more than I thought she did. I shrugged, as I left the kitchen, in search for Ezra, my dad, and Mike.

Dinner had been an interesting affair, with my father and Ezra conversing about Hollis and the classes that they were teaching, Mike trying to watch the football game that was on the TV in the living room, and my mom and I discussing plans about homeschooling.

"So, if you're going to be moving in with Ezra, when he goes to work, you can come over here to start your school day. If he still wants to teach you English, then when he gets back home from Hollis, you can have that class." She contemplated.

"That's fine." I nodded.

"Byron, should we tell them now?" Ella turned to Byron with an excited look on her face.

"About that thing?" He asked Ella, as Ezra and I exchanged a confused look with each other.

She nodded happily.

"What's… going on?" I asked slowly.

Mike had diverted his attention away from the TV and was now watching Ezra and I with a smile on his face.

"Your father and I have been talking a lot about it, and Ezra you better not refuse."

"Refuse what?" He watched my parents with a fearful look on his face.

"We've talked about it, and since Ezra's the only one with a job in your soon-to-be family, we-"

"Mom, I have money." I reminded her.

"We don't want you spending that. Save that for when you need it. And don't interrupt." Byron said.

"Sorry." I said quickly.

"We want to buy you guys a house." Ella triumphantly declared.

Ezra and I both gasped at the same time.

"W-what?" Ezra and I stuttered at the same time.

"You heard 'em." Mike replied, before shoving a forkful of chicken into his mouth.

"Why not? Although I've never seen your apartment Ezra, I can't imagine that it's big enough for you, Aria, and the baby. Besides," She chuckled. "Aria's shoe collection would probably end up taking up all the space in your bedroom, living room, and then some."

"Mom." I wined. "I don't have that many shoes." I folded my arms across my chest as I defended myself.

"Honey," My mom addressed me. "You have more pairs than your father, Mike, and I, _put together_. "

I slumped back down into my chair in defeat, as the rest of my family started laughing.

…PLL…

"I see what your mother meant about your shoes." Ezra chuckled, as he slid open the doors of my closet with a look of disbelief on his face, eyeing my huge shoe collection.

"Do you wear these?" He started laughing as bent down to pick up a pair of short blue boots that I had bought last year.

I walked over to the closet and snatched them out of his hands.

"Yes, I do, actually! I bought these with Hanna!" I smiled, as I placed them back inside my closet, next to a pair of black stilettos.

I turned away from my closet to see my mom leaning against the doorpost opposing the door hinge, with a content look on her face.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked her.

"About a minute. Seeing you two together, you can't even tell that there's a big age difference between you two. Ezra acts just like a teenager around you." She laughed.

Ezra smiled sheepishly at her comment.

"Here's some boxes, you can start packing up your room." Ella handed me a few folded up packing boxes and a roll of duct tape, before leaving my room.

I looked around my room and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Ezra asked, as he walked out of my walk-in closet.

"This… is going to be a long process." I laughed, as I climbed onto my bed and started pulling the books off of my bookshelf and onto my bed. Once all the books had been taken off the shelf, I folded up a box to put them into.

"Do I really need all of these?" I muttered to myself.

"No you don't," Ezra said, coming up behind me, "because I own almost all of those."

"True." I laughed, before omitting all the books Ezra already owned from the pile. When I was done, the only books that remained were the preppy, drama filled books that I occasionally read, much too girly for Ezra's taste. I neatly organized all the books into a box, making sure that every inch of the box was filled with something.

"Ezra, can you hand me the tape? It's on top of my bed." I asked, putting the last book into the heavy box.

Ezra tossed the duct tape over to me. I held down the flaps of the box and sealed it shut. Grabbing the sharpie on the floor, I marked it, "Reading Books" before placing it out into the hallway.

"One box down, sixteen hundred to go." I clapped my hands together, and looked around my room once again, realizing that the days I would be sleeping in this room were currently numbered. However, I was amazed by the fact that I was not sad about it. It probably had something to do with the fact that instead of waking up in this room, I'd be waking up next to the love of my life.

I closed the door to my bedroom as Ezra started putting all the office supplies, notebooks, and other odds and ends, from my desk into a box.

Eager to change out of my clothes, I pulled my dress off, revealing my underwear and bra-clad body. I grabbed a pair of Nike running shorts and slid them on.

As I caught a glimpse of myself in my floor length mirror by my closet, I let out a loud groan.

"Ugh. I'm getting fat." I examined my torso in the mirror. Although my stomach was still mostly flat, there was definitely a small bump, which could only be seen from a certain angle.

"Aria, you've gained like one pound, at the most, since you got pregnant."

I watched Ezra through my mirror as he laughed and stood up. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head on my shoulder.

"That doesn't mean that I haven't gotten fat." I replied, placing a hand over my stomach.

"We're a cute couple." He said, ignoring my comment.

"Mhmm, I'm not sure if everyone else would think so." I admitted.

"Sadly..." He agreed with a sigh.

"How come if you were 40 and I was 32, no one would care about us or look twice if they saw us?" I complained, turning in his arms so that I faced him.

"I don't want to imagine myself being 40 for a long time, Aria. Please don't make me start now." He begged me.

I laughed, before leaning towards him to give him a peck on the lips. As he felt me about to pull away, he kissed me harder and tightened his hold around my waist, not letting me go. I smiled against his lips, but I knew that if we didn't stop now, we'd never finish packing.

"Mhmm, we need to finish." I whispered against his lips.

Reluctantly, he loosened his grip on me, just enough for me to escape from his hold.

"Aria?" He asked, hesitantly.

"Yeah?" I turned back to him as I pulled a t-shirt over my head.

"Have you… gotten any more texts from that A person?" He asked cautiously.

I shook my head.

"You'll tell me when you do get any more, right?" He asked me desperately.

"As long as you tell me if A ever sends _you_ any texts." I replied. "And she.. or he better not." I hissed.

"Just tell me, Ezra, what idiot would dedicate every minute of their life, to stalking four teenage girls?" I asked Ezra with a frustrated tone, as I threw my hands into the air.

"Some _idiot_ who needs to get a life." I said, answering my own question before Ezra even had a chance to.

"And you have absolutely no idea who this person is?" Ezra sat down on my bed and motioned for me to come over.

"No." I shook my head, as I crawled onto my bed settling myself into his arms. He wrapped his arms around my waist and settled his hands protectively on my stomach.

"We'll find out who it is. And I promise I'll kill them for what they've been doing to you." He muttered, before pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

"Ezra?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Hm?"

"Do me a favor, and don't kill anyone." I gave him a small smile, before settling back into his arms.

**So this was mostly just a filler chapter, and I originally had a completely different ending planned for this, filled with drama, but I decided to be nice and make them have a happy ending at the end of this chapter instead. Hope you liked it, let me know what you thought and please review! **


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm not really motivated to write any scenes of Aria at school, so I'm just going to skip over those last few days. Sorry for anyone who was waiting for it. Also, for those of you who were not able to watch the Ezria clip I mentioned in the last chapter, the scene was played on Tuesdays' episode. Well, here's the next chapter; enjoy! **

The next few weeks flew by, and before we knew it, Ezra and I had found a cozy two- story house to live in. As promised, my parents paid the whole house off at once, so that we would not have to make house payments. I was currently standing in my new living room ordering Ezra, Mike, and my father around, telling them where to put each piece of furniture.

"A little more to the right." I commanded them, as they picked up the couch and moved it about an inch over to the right.

"Make it adjacent to the TV on the wall." Ella told them as she walked into the room.

"This is a nice place." Ella gushed. "You don't think it's a little big for the two of you?"

"Soon to be three." I corrected her. "Well, yeah I guess, it's a little big, but better be too big then too small right?"

She shrugged in reply.

"Aria, can I speak with you… alone… for a minute?" Byron asked.

"Um, sure." I followed my dad to the bedroom. I became confused when he closed the door behind us.

"Has he asked to marry you yet?" He whispered.

"Ugh, dad." I wined. "He'll ask me when he's ready." I assured him. "Don't you think that we would be moving too fast if we got married soon? I mean, yes, we're having a baby," I placed one of my hands on my stomach before continuing. "But that doesn't mean we should rush into things! I'm still in high school and I'm about to become a mother… I don't know if I can handle becoming a wife so quickly too." I confessed.

Byron sighed in response. "Fine. I won't push it. But when he does ask, I want you to call me right away and tell me."

"You'll be the first person I'll tell. I promise." I smiled.

We came out of the bedroom greeted by a living room that was piled up with boxes, boxes, and more boxes.

"We've moved all of the furniture into the house." Mike informed us. "Now you guys," he motioned towards Ezra and I, "get the luxury of putting it all away." Mike laughed.

"Thanks Mike." Ezra came up behind me and placed a hand on my back, before throwing Mike a fake smile from his comment, which resulted in laughter from the rest of my family.

…PLL…

"Aria." Ezra sighed, backing away from the closet.

"What's wrong?" I asked, walking into the bedroom.

He looked at me with a sad look on his face.

"Ezra!" I rushed over to him and took his hands in mine. "What happened?" I asked, frantically.

"Our closet's not big enough for all of your shoes." He told me with a very serious look on his face.

I punched his shoulder in response to his comment.

"Ezra Fitz! You're not allowed to scare me like that! I thought something was actually wrong!"

He started laughing at my reaction and I punched his shoulder again. However, before my small fist met his skin, Ezra grabbed both my hands and started walking forward, forcing me to walk backwards until my body was against the wall. He gently pinned my hands above my head against the wall, before leaning towards me for a kiss. Our lips met and I felt the familiar jolt of energy run through my body that came with every touch I received from Ezra. He kissed me back just as hungrily, our lips molding perfectly against each other. His hands moved from holding my arms above my head to one hand resting on the small of my back, while he placed the other hand on top of my stomach. We were both struggling to catch our breath when we broke apart a moment later.

"Ezra Fitz, do you know how much I love you?" I whispered to him against his lips.

"Not any more than I love you." I looked deep into his eyes, which were shining with lust.

"Impossible." He whispered, before kissing me again.

…PLL…

"Ezra, I'm back!" I called, as I walked into our apartment. I threw my purse and keys onto the counter, as I spotted Maria playing on the floor in the living room. I had just run to the coffee shop down the street to get us two cups of coffee due to the fact that we had run out, and by the looks of things, Jackie and Maria must have decided to stop by too.

"Hey, honey." I said, as she got up and gave me a hug. I hugged her back lightly, before pulling away. She must have liked me a lot more than I thought if she was giving me hugs, because I barely knew the girl. I had spent a small amount of time with Maria lately, whenever Jackie brought her over to see Ezra so Maria could spend time with Ezra.

"Where's your daddy?" I asked, as I started walking towards our bedroom.

"Jackie, stop." I heard Ezra say sternly, as if he were talking to one of his students. The door to the bedroom was opened just a crack, and I squinted inside to get a better look of what was going on.

Ezra was sitting at the edge of the bed with a distraught look on his face. Jackie was standing in front of him. I watched, as he put his head in his hands in a frustrated manner.

"Stop fighting me, Ezra. You know you still love me." Jackie took Ezra's hands in hers. I felt a pang of anger and jealously when Ezra did not pull his hands away.

I continued to watch them as a moment of silence followed Jackie's words.

"You're right, Jackie." Ezra whispered, looking back up at her.

"I know I am." I heard her say.

My heart was crushed right then and there. Tears I didn't know that had been forming in my eyes, fell down my cheeks. I was about to burst open the door and tell Ezra that it was over between us, that he could go be with Jackie if that's what he truly wanted, but I stopped myself as soon as I heard him speak again.

"You are right. Because you were my first real girlfriend, first real love, hell, we almost got married! There will always be a spot in my heart for you, even though at the moment, I wish there wasn't. But-"

"So stop fighting your feelings for me Ezra!" She pleaded. "You honestly think that you're better off with some twelve year old girl?"

I watched as Ezra jumped up from his spot off the bed, suddenly angry.

"First off, Aria is sixteen. Secondly, I couldn't ever ask for a more perfect girlfriend."

"Actually, that was me; your 'more perfect girlfriend'." She said, using air quotes.

"You broke it off with me, Jackie!" He said in a frustrated tone. "If you want to be with me so badly, why did you break off our engagement?" Ezra was breathing heavily.

"I was foolish. I made a mistake." Her tone softened, as she caressed his cheek. Ezra closed his eyes at her touch and I could hear his previously ragged breathing slow. "Please Ezra." She whispered, as she leaned towards him, ready to kiss him.

It took all of my willpower to continue to stand in that exact spot and watch how the scene in front of me was going to unfold. If Ezra really loved me, he wouldn't let Jackie kiss him. How many times had he told me that he didn't care about Jackie anymore? That she was a part of his past and will forever remain that way?

I felt another tear slide down my rosy cheeks as I waited for Ezra's response. I bit my lip and slowly felt my heart breaking as Jackie moved closer towards Ezra, and he made no move to back away. She caressed his cheek again and closed her eyes, positioning her face just centimeters away from his. My heart rate sped up. _Stop lying to yourself Aria, _a voice in the back of my head said. _Even if he does love you, he'll always have a place in his heart for Jackie. He'll always wonder, what_ _would my life be like if Jackie hadn't broken it off with me? He was still in love with her when he met you, and while he was kissing you in Snookers, when the two of you met, he probably was envisioning kissing Jackie instead. You really need to stop lying to yourself. _I felt another sob escape my throat as I looked back into the bedroom at the scene in front of me. My broken heart fell down to my knees, as I saw Ezra Fitz, _my _Ezra Fitz, the father of my baby, the love of my life, my soul mate… letting another woman kiss him, and not pulling away.

**What did you guys think? Review please! Can I get at least 10 reviews for this chapter? Pretty please, with Ezra on top? **


	15. Chapter 15

Aria's POV 

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Jackie had kissed Ezra. And from what I was able to see, Ezra had made the slightest movement of kissing her back. At that point, I fled from the doorway, grabbing my keys and purse on the way out of our house. I slammed the door with a shattering force behind me.

I reached my car and quickly got into the drivers seat. I struggled to get the key into the ignition, as my body was shaking with rage. Why hadn't Ezra come after me yet? I shut the front door hard enough for him to notice I had seen him and Jackie! I didn't know where I was going to go, but I knew that I had to get out of here, now. I drove out of the neighborhood and started driving, anywhere away from here. I didn't know where I was going to end up, but at the moment, I really did not care. I don't know how long I sat there, as my mind was racing. I didn't want to admit it, but a part of me was waiting for him to come after me. After another moment passed, I decided I needed to leave. I needed to go, somewhere, anywhere away from here. Knowing I wasn't completely alone, and that I had my baby with me, motivated me to get away from this cheater. My ringing phone interrupted my train of thought. I picked it up to look at the caller ID: Ezra. I watched the phone as it continued to ring, before his call hit voicemail. My phone chimed a moment later signaling a new voicemail. I unlocked my iPhone to see eight new texts, fifteen missed calls, and ten new voicemails - all from Ezra. I bit my lip as I started crying harder. _Thank God for waterproof mascara. _

I must have been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed my phone ringing again. My phone started buzzing for the sixteenth time, and once again I ignored it without even glancing at the caller ID, fully aware of whom the caller was.

I suddenly wished Alison were still alive. She would know exactly what I should do. But instead, I called the person who was second best to Alison at relationships; Hanna. I dialed her number and she answered after the second ring.

"Hello?" Her voice trilled through the phone.

"Han? Throw some clothes into a bag and come outside." I commanded as I turned onto her street.

"Why?" She asked cautiously.

"I need your help. And I need to get out of Rosewood, _now." _I told her as I parked my car in her driveway.

"Kay, I'll be there in a minute." She told me, before hanging up.

My thoughts were going crazy as I sat there waiting impatiently. He doesn't realize how much he affects me. How much this hurts. I had broken down and even though the thing I craved most at the moment was Ezra's arms wrapped around me and his honey filled voice telling me that everything would be okay, there was no way that that could happen; because he had been the one to hurt me. The tears came harder as I came to the realization that Jackie had won. She had gotten Ezra back. Why did I ever even think that Ezra was mine? That Ezra would stay mine and only mine when Jackie made her way back into his life? Why did Maria have to exist? I mean, it wasn't her fault, and I'm not blaming Maria for anything, but why does that bitch have to win? My thoughts were interrupted once again as I saw Hanna rushing out the front door of her house with a huge overnight bag in one hand, and her oversize purse in the other.

"Sorry! I couldn't decided whether I wanted to bring my new Betsy Johnson heels or the Steve Ma-" She climbed into the passenger side of my car after she threw her bag into the backseat, but stopped talking as soon as she saw my puffy eyes and tear stained face.

"Oh my God, Aria! Now you _really _look like a strung out Powerpuff Girl!" She attempted humor, but got no happy response from me aside from more tears.

My phone's ringtone filled the depths of the car once again and Hanna asked, "Aren't you going to answer that?"

I shook my head, not even glancing at the phone, knowing exactly who was calling. A new flood of tears washed over my face once again.

"Aria, what happened?" Hanna asked sincerely.

"Ez-Ezra. H-he k-k-kissed," I motioned towards my lips, my breathing extremely heavy, but I was unable to finish my sentence as I started crying even harder.

"Who'd he kiss?" She asked urgently.

"Jackie." I said, as another flood of tears escaped my eyes.

Why the hell does life have to be so complicated? Why did all this have to happen to me? My head was swimming with questions and thoughts as I kept driving. I realized that I had ended up on the freeway, but I didn't care. I decided I would continue to drive, and see where I would end up; because I _really _didn't want to be around anything or anyone that could or would remind me of Ezra.

"Oh, honey I'm so sorry." Hanna looked at me with a sincere expression on her face.

I didn't reply as more tears streamed down my face. I threw my phone a dirty look as it rang again.

"Shut. That. Thing. Off." I muttered under my breath. Hanna picked the phone up and turned it off. She set it back inside my purse.

"Where should we go?" I asked quietly as I exited the freeway.

"Stop at that gas station for a minute." She told me.

I shrugged my shoulders as I entered the gas station parking lot. I put the car in park and watched Hanna as she got out of the car. She shut her door and walked over to the driver's side of the car. I rolled down my window.

"Get out." She commanded.

"Why?" I asked, shocked.

"I'm driving. You need a break." She said sincerely.

I sighed in response, knowing that she was right and that it probably was really unsafe for me to be driving in such a fragile mental state. I got out of the car and entered the passengers' side. Hanna started the car and started driving again, however, I didn't really care too much about where we were going, so I didn't even bother asking her about it. I reached inside my purse and took out my small notebook and a pen. I opened it up to a blank page and started scribbling away, pouring out all my thoughts into the little book, unable to keep them locked away in my mind any longer.

Ezra's POV

As soon as Jackie's lips touched mine, my memory re-winded by a year to what her touch used to feel like. Her lips used to send a tingling feeling throughout my entire body, but now, it felt phony and wrong, as if it were meant for someone else; not me. And that was true, because I was meant to be with Aria. Aria and I both knew that we were soul mates to the fullest extent. **(Which I completely agree with lol) **The reason I had proposed to Jackie in the first place was because I had not yet met Aria. However, looking back now, I realized that Jackie breaking off our engagement was one of the greatest things that could have ever happened to me. Breaking up with Jackie was all part of fate; the fate that led me to meeting Aria at Snookers. For the first time, I realized that if Aria had not been my student, then our relationship would not be where it was today. I probably wouldn't have ever seen her again if she had not been my student. We wouldn't love each other as much as we did. I bit my lip as I realized that she might not be able to love me anymore after seeing me with Jackie.

Just a second after Jackie's lips touched mine, I broke away from her, knowing that this was so wrong. I heard a door slam loudly a moment later, confirming my worst possible fear: Aria had seen us.

I shoved Jackie's arms off of my body and ran from the room. Jackie appeared in the living room a moment later, and I turned towards her.

"Jackie, leave." I commanded, trying to keep my voice down but failing.

"Ezra-" She began to say but I cut her off. I picked Maria up and handed Maria to Jackie.

"LEAVE! Kissing me was completely uncalled for! What the hell was going through your mind?" I yelled, as I ushered her out the door.

"I know you still want to be with me." She told me as she started walking towards the door.

"You're wrong." I managed to say in a softer tone.

"Ezra, I still love you." Jackie looked back at me for a moment.

"But I don't love you." I managed to say, before she fled from the house.

As I looked down at my hands, I realized that they had been shaking in rage. I grabbed my keys, wallet, and phone, and rushed to my car. I had no idea where to go. I called Aria's phone but only got her voicemail. But was I really expecting her to answer? She saw me kissing Jackie and probably hates me more than anyone right now. Probably even more than she hates that stupid A person. I tried to envision where Aria would go if she were to run away, but my mind came up blank. Her old house? One of her friends' houses? Her parents' house seemed extremely unlikely, but it was a possibility. I quickly started the car and started driving towards Aria's old house. I felt my eyes water as I realized that I had lost Aria, possibly forever. I shook my head immediately as that thought entered my mind. I was going to get Aria back. No matter what it took. I called her phone again, but after a few rings, it went to voicemail.

I turned onto her parents street and but her car was nowhere in sight. I huffed in anger as I turned off of the street and started driving towards Spencer's house, since it was the closest. Afterwards, I went to Hanna's house, then Emily's house, but each one was void of Aria's car. I tried calling Aria's phone again, but this time, instead of ringing, it went straight to voicemail. If only she wasn't so stubborn and would let me explain! But there really was no good excuse to why I was kissing my ex-fiancé.

I slumped against the leather seat of the car in defeat as I felt fresh hot tears fall from my eyes. I had lost Aria. And I had no way of getting her back.

**Thank you all so much for your reviews on the last chapter! I completely agree with all of you and I hated that last chapter too! Poor Aria! So this was basically a filler chapter. Anyways, let me know what you thought and please leave a review! Can we reach 200? Pretty please? **


	16. Chapter 16

Yay! We reached over 200! Thank you sooo much to all my amazing readers and all the quiet ones out there too! : Aria and Ezra lover, UndRestimated42, Jeyhey, .10, Anonymous, msbookworm93, lala17, Television Lover, crazyatbest, MzPink4, .dreamers, superbaSS, RosalineMarie, yasmin122, and HaleyJamesScottNathanScott! I'm so thankful that you all like this story as much as you do!

Aria's POV

"Han, can I borrow something to sleep in?" I continued flipping through the channels on the TV looking for something suitable to watch, before clicking the power button and shutting the TV off completely.

Hanna and I had ended up three hours away from Rosewood, and we were spending the night at a hotel. After seeing Jackie and Ezra, my mind had been so set on leaving the house that I had not even stopped to grab anything for the night.

I glanced at my phone as it rang for the sixty seventh time that night. Frustrated, I snatched the phone from the coffee table in front of me and answered the call.

"Aria!" Ezra's voice came through on the other end.

"Stop calling me." I said fiercely. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Aria, please, just let me explain!" He said quickly.

"Ezra! There is absolutely NO explanation you can give me to why you were kissing Jackie. Now stop calling me!" I yelled, before hanging up on him.

I tossed my phone beside me on the couch before bursting into tears again. Hanna came over to me with a tank top and shorts in her hand and set them down on the coffee table in front of us. She sat down beside me and wrapped an arm around me, comfortingly.

"Honey, I'm so sorry." She said soothingly.

My phone beeped again and Hanna picked it up.

"It's Ezra." She told me.

"Of course it is." I said bitterly.

I watched Hanna as she unlocked my iPhone and read the text he sent me.

I watched as her facial expression changed from that of anger to that of sorrow and compassion.

"Aria…" She said slowly. "Look at this." She handed the phone to me.

"I don't want to." I muttered.

"Aria, I think you should." She tried giving me the phone again. This time I took it.

I let out a sigh as another tear escaped my eyes. I looked at the message and started crying again after reading it.

"_Aria, please, let me explain. You've got it all wrong. I know you saw Jackie and I kissing, but you have to believe me, that I didn't kiss her, she kissed me. I told her that it was completely over between us and that I loved you more than I ever loved her, but she wouldn't stop coming on to me. She kissed me, and as soon as it happened I stopped it! I really hope you're reading this, because I'm sorry. Aria I'm really truly sorry. I never meant for that to happen and you need to know, that I love you more than anyone or anything else in this world. I only love you. No one else. Please forgive me. Please."_

"Aria, you have to go back. I mean, it was all Jackie's fault. You can't blame Ezra for what's happened."

I bit my lip as I pondered this. I got up from the couch and started pacing back and forth.

"But what if it happens again?" I cried. "Jackie has found a way to make sure that she's back in Ezra's life for good. Okay? Do you understand that Hanna? He has a daughter with her! And now, I'm pregnant, and I have to share him? What the hell is that about? What person should have to endure that misery? When my baby grows up, I'll have to somehow explain to them that they have a sister, from another mother! I'm only sixteen! I'm pregnant, I don't live with my parents anymore, and my boyfriend has a daughter with someone else!"

I collapsed back onto the couch as tears streamed down my face.

"And what if Ezra falls in love with Jackie again? Realizes how much he's missed her and how much better she is for him?" I sobbed. "I mean, they almost got married!"

"But he hadn't met you at that time." She told me.

"True." I agreed, as I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand.

"Aria," She paused. "I think that you two are meant to be together. You were able to stay together the whole time you were teacher and student, which says a lot."

I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"I think you should go back there and let him explain. Don't forgive him immediately, but do it eventually. I hate it when you're hurting." She gave me a sympathetic look.

"I know..." I looked down at my lap. "I just..."

"You just nothing. Aria, I know how much you love Ezra, and I am not going to let you ruin your relationship with him because of your own stubbornness."

I gave her a small smile in response.

Suddenly, Hanna jumped up from the couch.

"Why are you still sitting? We're getting you home."

"Now?" I asked. "It's almost midnight!"

"Hun, after all that caffeine we had from Starbucks, I was going to be up all night anyway."

"And I completely believe you." I laughed as I got up from the couch.

Hanna ran around the hotel room as she gathered up the few belongings she had taken out of her bag.

Twenty minutes later, we were in the car once again driving down a lonely country road in the moonlight, singing along to the blasting radio.

"It's twisted, messed up! And the more I think about it, it's crazy, but so what! I may never understand it, I'm caught up and I'm hanging on, I'm gonna love you even if its wrong," we sang in synchronization. When the chorus of the song finished, Hanna lowered down the volume.

"That should be you and Ezra's theme song."

"Yeah, we can sing it at midnight every night and wake up the whole town!" I said sarcastically.

"No I'm being serious!" She raised the volume a little bit. "Listen to the words! 'It's twisted, messed up, it's crazy, but so what?' that's totally you and Ezra! Your love was twisted because you were student and teacher, but it was so right, cuz you're like, the hottest couple ever!" she exclaimed.

"Hanna, do me a favor, and just drive." I laughed, before raising the volume again.

Two and a half hours later, I found myself thanking Hanna for the drive back home as I walked up the stone path to the front door of me and Ezra's house. My phone said that the time was 3:07am. I stuffed my key into the lock, but right as I was about to turn it, I froze. What if Ezra's mad at me for running away? But that's not fair, because he kissed Jackie. I'm the one who should be mad! I shook my head before I turned the key into the lock. I slowly crept inside the abnormally quiet house. The normal hum of the dishwasher, blow of the air conditioning, and rumbling of the fridge making ice were absent from the atmosphere. I entered the living room and my heart sunk as I took in my surroundings. Ezra was sitting on the couch with his knees curled up to his chest. His head was buried in the crook of his knees. He was wearing an old tattered t-shirt and sweatpants and he was clenching his cell phone tightly in one hand.

As I started to approach him, he slowly lifted his head from his knees to reveal his tear stained face and glossy blue eyes.

Seeing him in such a vulnerable state caused all of the anger and rage I had on him earlier, vanish.

Seeing Ezra hurting like this made me realize how much I really meant to him.

The moment his eyes met mine, we started gravitating towards each other. However, we couldn't get to each other fast enough. Ezra leaped up from the couch and embraced me in his arms. Our lips met in a passionate kiss, full of longing and regret. My fingers were tangled in his hair as his hands gripped my waist, pulling me closer. There was no space between our bodies and I could feel him breathing heavily against me. I gave his prodding tongue entrance into my mouth, causing me moan against him. As Ezra traced the roof of my mouth with his tongue, I pulled his body closer to me. We broke apart after a moment to catch a breath. Gazing into his eyes, I saw the immense love for me reflected in them.

"I'm so sorry Aria." Ezra whispered to me.

"Shh." I told him, as I brought his face back to mine and kissed him again.

"I love you." I whispered against his lips.

"As I love you." He kissed me with more passion before. I finally broke away, as we both struggled to regain our breath.

"Ezra.." I whispered. "I just want to know... Why did she kiss you?" I asked, confusion laced throughout my voice.

"She wants me back. And she thinks that because of Maria, she'll get me back. But she won't. Because I'm already taken." He said simply, before crushing his lips to mine once again.


	17. Chapter 17

"This is the best English class I've ever had." I murmured against Ezra's lips.

He wrapped his arm around my waist before pulling away for a moment and resting his forehead against mine.

"Your parents would kill me if they knew what most of your classes actually consisted of." Ezra smiled, before I pressed my lips to his once again.

"I swore to that oath that your classes would actually be classes. There better not be any hidden cameras in here, or else we're completely screwed." He laughed, before pulling my face back to his and kissing me hungrily.

A loud buzzing suddenly warped us out of our little fantasy.

I let out a groan as Ezra pulled away from me and grabbed his phone from the coffee table.

"It's Jackie." He said, surprised.

"Are you going to answer it?" I asked, secretly hoping he wouldn't.

"Should I?" He pondered, as he looked at the ringing phone in his hand. "It could be about Maria."

"Then answer it." I closed my eyes, a little frustrated.

"Hello?" Ezra asked, as he put Jackie on speakerphone so I could listen to the conversation.

"Ezra?"

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Ezra please, listen to me when I say this. I'm so sorry for kissing you. I don't know what I was thinking. I see now how much you love Aria and I'm sorry for trying to ruin that." Jackie apologized. I looked at Aria, whose eyes were looking a little wet.

"You don't realize what kind of hell I went through the other night because Aria suddenly disappeared." Ezra ran his fingers through his hair in a frustrated manner.

"I'm sorry Ezra. I promise it won't happen again. I realized, that if you were mad enough at me, you might not want to ever see me again. And that would mean never seeing Maria again, and I didn't want to be the reason she never saw her dad ever again."

"I love Aria. Not you. I need you to understand that, before we can make things right between us again." He told her.

"And that's why I want to take you and Aria out to dinner tonight. To apologize and see if we all can just be friends."

He looked at me, awaiting my response.

"Um, well let me see what Aria-" He started to say, but I interrupted.

"Listen Jackie. I saw you and Ezra together, and I agree that yes, it would be a big burden for you to carry if Maria never saw Ezra again. But if you ever try and make a move on Ezra ever again, when he doesn't want you to, I will personally hunt you down and kill you."

"Well that doesn't sound very nice." She replied.

"It isn't. But you kissing my boyfriend isn't very nice either, now is it." I replied swiftly.

"You're right. And I'm sorry about that." She said. "I hope you'll forgive me and that we can all be friends."

"At the moment, I can't say the same. But I will say that time will tell what will happen between all of us." I sighed.

"Then I'll see you tonight at 7? We can go to this nice restaurant I've been to a few times. I'll text Ezra the address."

"Okay. We'll see you tonight." Ezra told her, before hanging up.

"Uh, wow." Ezra said, clearly not knowing what else to say.

"Did we seriously just make plans to go to dinner with your ex?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think we just did." He nodded.

"This… is going to be a long night." I mumbled as Ezra straightened out the papers lying on the coffee table.

"Here's your actual homework." Ezra chuckled as he grabbed my laptop, which lay forgotten on the floor from earlier.

"Do you really have to give me homework?" I whined.

"I'm not giving it to you, the computer is!" He put his hands up, defending himself. "Besides, it's just a worksheet. You'll probably finish it in two seconds."

"You know…" I told him as I crawled onto his lap. "If _you _do it, you could finish it in half a second." I said in a voice I knew he couldn't resist.

"Aria. There is no way you are going to get me to do your homework."

"Aw come on. Wouldn't you rather be kissing me than watching me do English homework?" I leaned towards him and gave him a kiss. He kissed me back for a moment before pulling away.

"No." He crossed his arms together and looked away. "You _really _need to do your homework."

"Fine." I surrendered, as I grabbed my laptop and set it down on my lap.

"After you're done, we can do whatever you want."

"_Whatever _I want?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Whatever you want." He replied.

…PLL…

"This is crazy." I stated, as I got out of the car.

"Why?" Ezra asked me, genuinely confused.

"We're about to have dinner with your ex-fiancé, who still wants to be with you." I reminded him.

"Well, said ex-fiancé, promised that she'll be good and stop threatening to destroy our relationship."

"Yeah right." I muttered.

"Hey," Ezra said softly, as he stroked my cheek. "I love you, and Jackie will never be able to do anything to change that."

He gave me a kiss before taking my hand as we walked into the restaurant together.

Ezra looked around the restaurant for a moment, looking for Jackie and Maria.

"Is that Hanna?" Ezra whispered in my ear.

"What? Where?" I spun around to see Hanna sitting at a table at the far end of the restaurant with Caleb, Lucas, and a brunette girl.

"Yeah, it is! She didn't tell me she was dating Caleb again!" I exclaimed.

"There's Jackie and Maria." He gestured to a table near the windows. "Let's get this over with." With his hand still in mine, we walked towards the table where Jackie and Maria were sitting.

"Hi daddy!" Maria squealed as soon as she saw Ezra.

"Hey Maria," He gave her a smile before sitting down across from Jackie at the table. I sat down next to him across from Maria, who was coloring on a piece of paper.

Our waitress came over to our table a moment later. As we were all ordering our food and drinks, I looked over to Hanna's table to see Hanna, Caleb, Lucas, and the brunette girl walking over to our table. Caleb was holding hands with Hanna and Lucas was holding hands with the brunette girl.

"Mr. Fitz! I didn't know you were married!" The brunette girl exclaimed as the waitress left our table.

"Why is Aria having dinner with you, your wife, and daughter?" Lucas asked.

"Actually Danielle, I'm n-" Ezra begun to say, but Jackie interrupted.

"She's a f-family friend." Jackie replied sweetly, answering Lucas' question.

"Shut up." I groaned at Jackie.

Caleb, Lucas, and Danielle looked at me with surprise written all over their faces. Hanna however, had a smug look on her face.

I took Ezra's hand in mine and held our hands up for Caleb, Danielle and Lucas to clearly see.

"Ezra and I are dating. Jackie is Ezra's ex, and Maria is Ezra and Jackie's daughter." I explained.

"Wow." Lucas replied.

"That's creepy." Caleb commented.

Danielle just looked at me with an extremely confused expression on her face. She was probably thinking about what a freak I was for dating my ex-teacher. However, I really didn't care.

"So you guys made up and are happily in love again?" Hanna winked at me.

"Han…" I groaned. "Wait, but you and Caleb? Are you back together?" I questioned her.

"Uh-" Hanna glanced at Danielle who was watching her, awaiting her answer.

"Yeah, yeah we are." She said sweetly. "Come on guys, we'll let them be." Hanna led everyone back to the table. However, as soon as the group was halfway back to the table, Hanna turned back to our table and spoke.

"Just so you get your facts straight, Caleb and I aren't together anymore. We just came for moral support for Lucas. We're his… wing people." She said uncomfortably.

"Why?" Ezra asked.

"He's a mess." She said simply, before walking back to her table to join Caleb, Lucas, and Danielle.

"Look what I drew!" Maria exclaimed, as she held up a picture of four people.

"This is mommy, this is daddy, this is me, and this is Aria." She pointed to each person on the picture.

I snuck a glance at Ezra, who had confusion written all over his face.

"She put you in the picture." He stated quietly to me, dumbstruck.

"I know. That's… weird." I looked at Maria, who was marveling over her work.

Ezra opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when the waitress came with our food.

The actual dinner part of dinner was mostly a quiet affair, with the occasional small talk between Ezra and Jackie.

"Are you enjoying your classes so far Ezra?" Jackie asked him. She had not taken her eyes off of Ezra all night and I started to wonder if she was actually being truthful on the phone earlier, or if it was all just an act.

"Yeah, they're not bad." He conversed. "How are yours?"

"They're all really good." She smiled.

I twirled my spaghetti around on my fork, extremely bored of their "conversation."

Twenty minutes later, the most awkward dinner I have ever had to endure was over with, and I was free!

"That was… the weirdest hour I have ever had to sit through." I told Ezra with a sympathetic smile on my face, as we left the restaurant.

"I completely agree." He said, as he got into the car. "At least it's done. Jackie behaved, and-"

"Except for that one comment." I snarled, remembering Jackie's comment about me being a _family friend. _

"That you were a family friend?" Ezra chuckled.

"Please tell me what makes that comment so funny. Because I'm completely lost here." I demanded.

"Because she's trying so hard. It's pretty pathetic." Ezra said.

"That it is, Ezra. That it is."

**I love Hanna! Even though she didn't have many snarky comments in this chapter. **

**I wish this baby would just be born already. I already have one chapter of their birth finished. Anyways, thanks so much for all of the reviews! I've already planned out all the drama I want for this story, but if any of you have any ideas for fluff or happy things that you want to see in this story, just let me know and I'll write a chapter of it! All suggestions are very welcome! Review please! **


	18. Chapter 18

**This is the chapter you've all been waiting for! **

***Reminder: It's been 3 years since Jackie and Ezra have seen each other. The current month is April. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except Maria**

"It's so pretty. The sunset." I said, as I dug my toes into the warm sand. I turned to Ezra, who was smiling down at me. We had decided to go out for a while after dinner that night and we had ended up downtown. We walked around the busy streets and looked around in random shops. As soon as I spotted the beach a few blocks away from the shopping center, I had begged Ezra to go there. Of course, he could not say no to me.

"Just like you." He winked. I pulled on his arm, dragging him down to my height. I placed both of my hands on either sides of his face and kissed him. He kissed me back just as forcefully, as he picked me up and slowly started twirling me around.

As I tangled my fingers in his hair, he slowly set me back down on the ground. He pulled away and studied my face for a moment.

"Aria-" He begun to say, but stopped himself.

I looked at him, questioningly, afraid of what might come.

"Should I kneel for this? It might be awkward." I faintly heard him mutter under his breath. "What the heck." He shrugged.

My heart skipped a beat as I watched Ezra get down on one knee in front of me and pull a small velvet box out of his pocket. He opened it up, to reveal a diamond ring, set on a silver band. There was one diamond, with two smaller diamonds sitting beside it on the band. It was simple, yet elegant. Not too gaudy or big, yet something a sixteen year old would wear.

"Aria, will you take this ring, as a symbol of my love for you? I would have gotten you an engagement ring, but you're only sixteen and I don't want to rush you into anything. But I hope one day, an engagement ring can replace this one. Because I love you, and I want everyone in this world to know that you're mine." He said.

I gave a small nod, due to the fact that I was speechless. I wiped away the tears that I did not even realize had been forming in my eyes, before Ezra slowly slid the ring onto my finger.

He was about to speak again, but I silenced him with a kiss.

"It's perfect." I whispered against his lips. "Just like you."

…PLL…

The next three months passed in bliss. When Ezra and I were not getting ready for the baby, doing homework, or in Ezra's case, grading papers, Ezra was spending father daughter time with Maria, trying to make up for the past three years he had missed of her life.

At the moment, Ezra and I were in the kitchen, cleaning up from lunch. Jackie had ordered a pizza for all of us when she brought Maria over to see Ezra. It had smelt so good, that we had devoured it in minutes. As I was loading the dishwasher, Ezra was wiping down the table.

"Aria, could you do me a favor?" Jackie asked me, as she started combing the hair of one of Maria's Barbie's.

"Put dis dress on her mommy!" Maria handed Jackie a blue and white sundress to put on the Barbie in Jackie's hands.

"It's going to be your nap time soon, so why don't we start cleaning up your toys?" Jackie told Maria, after changing the Barbie into the sundress.

"She could sleep here, Jackie." Ezra told her. "In the guest room or something."

"Are you sure? I mean… I don't want her to be a burden…" Jackie trailed off, clearly unsure about the situation.

"It'll be fine." Ezra assured her.

"Okay, well, I just need to get Maria her bunny. There's no way she'll sleep without it… Aria, would you be a doll and get her bunny for me from the car?" Jackie asked sweetly. "It should be in her car seat."

Instead of responding, I rolled my eyes and grabbed Jackie's keys from the counter. I unlocked the car and opened the back door, in search for the bunny. Looking around on the backseats, it was nowhere to be found. As I stuck my hand under the front seat to see if it had fallen and landed under the seat, my finger slid across something sharp. I pulled my hand away from under the seat to discover that I had gotten a paper cut.

"Stupid Jackie…" I could not stop myself from muttering under my breath.

I stuck my hand under the seat again and reached for the book. I pulled it out; to make sure the sharp pages would not cut me when I stuck my hand back in there again. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something white: Maria's bunny. I climbed into the front seat and retrieved the stuffed animal from the floor of the passenger seat. How it got there, I really had no idea. I climbed into the back seat again, holding the bunny in my hand. As I went to put the book back under the seat, I realized that it was not a book at all. It was a journal. Clearly, it had been purposely stashed there, so that no one would find it. My curiosity got the best of me, as I opened up the notebook to a random page and started reading. **(The Montgomery family needs to learn to stay out of other people's stuff! First Byron, now Aria...) **

_March 2, 2007._

_It's been three weeks since I found out that I'm pregnant with Drew's baby. I'm scared to tell him because months ago, when we were talking about our future together, he told me that he didn't want any kids. I don't know what to do here. Eventually, it's going to get harder and harder to hide the fact that I'm pregnant from him. And if I wait too long to tell him, he might think that I cheated on him! He hasn't even asked me to marry him yet. It seems that all he wants is sex. Every night, we make love, but it doesn't feel special to me anymore. He's going to notice that I'm gaining weight and he's going to start asking questions. Lots and lots of questions. I wish I were still with Ezra. He, of all people, would understand my mixed emotions right now._

I flipped through the pages and started reading a later entry. 

_March 18, 2007. _

_Drew left. He actually abandoned our baby and me. When I told him that I was pregnant, he slapped me and called me a slut. He thought I was pregnant with someone else's baby and that that's why I waited so long to tell him! How could he think of me like that? He knows that I loved him, doesn't he? No, scratch that. Not loved, love. I still love him, no matter how much I don't want to admit it right now. _

I slumped back into the seat as my mind was racing. There was a chance that Maria wasn't Ezra's daughter, from what Jackie's entries explained. Maria is three years old, and she was conceived in 2007. What am I saying? Of course Maria isn't Ezra's! She looks so much like Jackie; apart from the dark curls that no one would think twice about Maria not being Ezra's! Oh my God. Maria's not Ezra's daughter. Why the hell am I still sitting here?

I had to read more of this. I knew that Jackie was going to go ballistic when she realizes that her journal is gone, but I'll save the worry about that for later. I hid the journal under the front of my coat and zipped my coat up. I grabbed the bunny, before locking the car and hurrying back into the house.

"Did you have a hard time finding it? That took you quite some time." Jackie commented, as I handed her the bunny.

"Uh, yeah, but it's fine." I semi-lied. I did have a hard time finding it, right?

I didn't even stop to look at Ezra, as I rushed into the bathroom. I quickly locked the door and turned on the shower, hoping Ezra and Jackie would think I was in the shower and would not disturb me.

I let the journal fall from underneath my coat and I caught it in my hands before it could hit the tile floor. I hastily unbuttoned my coat and threw it on the bathroom floor, before eagerly flipping open the journal again and beginning to read.

_May 26, 2007 _

_People are starting to find out that I'm pregnant and I'm feeling lonelier than ever. My parents' initial reaction was uncertainty, since Drew and I weren't married, but once I revealed to them that he broke up with me because I'm pregnant, sympathy overrode all the uncertainty that ever was to exist in their minds. They offered to let me stay with them during the pregnancy and right after the baby was born. I'm not a teenager! I'm a fully-grown woman and I can take care of a baby and myself! It's as if they don't trust me to take care of a baby! _

I read over some more entries dated in between the end of May until March, after Maria was born.

_March 28, 2008_

_I'm still having the dreams. They're all the same: Drew coming to our house in the middle of the night, breaking down the front door, and hurting Maria. Hurting me for keeping her. I am doing anything I can to protect her, but I'm not sure how well I would be able to protect her from Drew, if God forbid, my dreams ever do come true. I love her so much… this feeling I get when I look at her… it's like overwhelming happiness… or… the feeling of motherhood… I guess, is what one would call it…_

_I love watching Maria sleep. She's like an angel when she sleeps. It's so peaceful. I can't imagine how any human being would ever want to hurt her. But then I remember Drew. And now… I can't get his frightening face out of my head. _

I jumped as I heard a knock on the bathroom door, just as I finished reading that entry.

"Aria? Are you okay? You didn't drown, did you? You've been taking a shower for over two hours now." I could clearly detect the worry in Ezra's tone from the other side of the door.

"Uh, yeah! I'm fine! I'll be out soon!" I quickly said, before turning back to the journal.

_July 2, 2008_

_I have to do it. I need a guy in my life, who will love Maria and I, and who will protect us and be there for us. She needs a father figure in her life. Only one person comes to mind as to who would be the perfect father. He once discussed with me our future, and that he wanted two kids, a boy and a girl. He wanted the girl first, and he wanted her to be three years older than the boy. I could give that to him. If I can get him back, he'll have the daughter he's been dreaming about. _

I flipped through the pages and started reading another entry.

_September 14, 2008 _

_Can I really do that to Ezra? Would he believe me? Does Maria even look enough like him for this trap to work? I've tried meeting other guys, but as soon as they find out that I have a daughter, they want nothing to do with me. I don't blame them… who would want to have a slutty girlfriend with a daughter? Why does this have to happen to me? _

I quickly flipped through some more entries, scanning the pages, and stopping once Ezra's name caught my eye.

_October 1, 2009_

_I've made up my mind. I'm going to move back to Rosewood and find Ezra again. I feel so desperate. I spent the last three days stalking Ezra's Facebook profile for any information I can get on how his life is right now. He's still in Rosewood and he's still at Hollis, studying to get a degree in English Literature. _

_After I broke off our engagement, we stopped seeing each other. Literally. I never saw him around campus and we never bumped into each other on the streets of Rosewood, despite the fact that Rosewood was such a small town. Would he take me back? Jackie, stop it. Of course he would! He's madly in love with you. You're the one who broke off the engagement, not him. He'll take you back in a heartbeat! _

_Why did I break it off with Ezra? It was just such a foolish thing to do! I don't know what was going through my mind! __**(I don't either, Jackie. Who would ever break up with Ezra Fitz? No one in their right mind! Get it? Clearly, Jackie's not in her right mind? Okay… back to the story haha) **_

I silently thanked God for making Jackie break up with Ezra. If she had not, I never would have met him. I flipped through some more pages, finally settling on a much later date. I hadn't realized I had been crying, until a teardrop hit the page I had been reading. I quickly wiped my eyes with my hand and resumed reading.

_January 3, 2011_

_I saw Ezra the other day walking around Hollis campus with a brunette girl. She must be his new girlfriend, because he kissed her. Seeing him kiss that girl brought back so many memories of him and I. We had been so happy together. So content and in love. At the time, it seemed like nothing could ever stop us from being together. Except me… I still don't understand why I did such a foolish thing! I was scared. I was barely twenty-one years old, and he asked me to marry him! I mean, seriously? I barely knew who I wanted to be in life, or what I wanted to do with my life, and here Ezra was, wanting to strap me down and make me a wife! I wanted to do things, travel the world and explore! If I was a wife… I wouldn't be able to do any of that. I would have to be with Ezra all the time. I just wasn't ready for such a big commitment, at such a young age. _

_I thought he would take me back now, after I tell him about Maria, his 'long lost fake daughter that I'm actually only lying about because she needs a father in her life and Ezra's my only option' but now I'm debating whether or not I really should. Can I really do something like that to him? What if he finds out the truth? What if he takes us back, and one day finds out that I lied to him? He'll never forgive me for using him like that. I probably won't ever forgive myself, either. _

Well bitch, he is going to find out the truth, and I am going to be the one to tell him. On second thought, maybe I should make her tell him! I turned back to the journal and took a deep breath as I read the letters scrawled across the crisp, off-white, pages.

_February 26, 2011_

_Ezra believed me! He actually believed me! He thinks that Maria is his daughter! The only problem is his girlfriend, Aria! I don't know what to do with her! She's such a bitch for stealing my Ezra from me! I mean, I had him first, right? Doesn't that make him mine? I need to find a way to get rid of her, so that Ezra and I can be together, with Maria, and live happily ever after. Like in all of the fairy tales. But my so called, 'fairy tale' had a dead awful prince… What am I thinking? Calling Drew a prince! At this point, I can barely call him a man! A real man wouldn't abandon his girlfriend and unborn daughter, just because he got her pregnant! Ezra's the one. I know it. We're meant to be together. If we weren't, he wouldn't have ever let me back into his life. _

I turned the page, expecting more writing, but the page was blank. I slowly set the book down as I leaned against the bathtub, absorbing all the information I had just learned. Jackie lied. She completely lied. About everything. I stared at the journal in disbelief. She actually had that much courage to make up such a big lie to Ezra, all so that Maria could have a father figure in her life. How pathetic! There are a zillion guys out there, and she has to go for one that's already taken?

So now what? I know Jackie's secret. Maria's not Ezra's daughter. We can't just go on in life, as if nothing's changed. Because everything has! Maria's not Ezra's daughter. Once Ezra finds out, he will want nothing to do with Jackie and Maria! Even though, he should not have had anything to do with them in the first place! Oh my God, Ezra's going to freak out when he finds out!

Another knocking on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Aria! Are you sure you're okay?" Ezra's asked, extremely worried.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a second!" I called. I took the journal and stuffed it under my coat once again. I shut off the showerhead and walked out of the bathroom and into our bedroom. Before walking in, I made sure that the coast was clear and that Ezra was not in the room so that I could find somewhere to hide this journal for the time being. After scurrying around the bedroom for somewhere Ezra would not accidently stumble upon it, I settled for my bedside drawer. As I closed the drawer, I heard Ezra's voice, causing me to jump.

"Was that the longest shower of your life?" Ezra chuckled.

I kept my head down and shook my head, unable to answer the question.

"Wait, did you even take a shower? Your hair isn't even wet!" He cried.

Shit. I hadn't even thought about at least wetting my hair to make my story seem half true. As I finally turned towards him, he looked into my eyes. I tried to hide all my current emotions, but being Ezra, he was able to see right through my wall of defense.

"Aria, are you okay? Oh my God, were you crying in the bathroom that whole time?" He exclaimed, noticing my tear stained cheeks.

He embraced me and held me close to his chest when I did not respond.

"About Maria… um..." I sighed softly, tilting my head to look up at him.

"They left, over two and a half hours ago. Aria, it's almost 7." He said, concern etched all over his face.

"Y-you shouldn't see her a-anymore." I closed my eyes as I whispered the words, getting myself ready to see Ezra in a mental breakdown.

"What do you mean? Aria, she's my own blood." Ezra stroked his thumb across my cheek. I opened my eyes at his touch. "I can't abandon her."

"Actually… She's not." I said quietly.

He looked at me questioningly, with a very confused look on his face.

"Ezra… don't be mad, but I found this…" I reached into my bedside table and pulled out the journal. I held it close to my chest for a moment.

"I found this…" I repeated. "And it is going to answer a lot of your questions." I handed the journal to him and he took it cautiously, as if it were going to explode at any moment.

"My questions about what?" He furrowed his brows and looked at me, confused.

"Maria." I whispered, as another tear slid down my rosy cheeks.

**Sorry, cliffhanger! Wow! Jackie lied! I don't believe in Aria and Ezra getting married while Aria is so young. I feel like it's unrealistic. So… that's the explanation for why the beginning of this chapter was the way it was. I debated for a long time whether I should give you guys a dramatic chapter versus a fluffy chapter… but dramatic won :)**

**Some of you may have noticed that I skipped some time in this chapter… I couldn't resist. The closer I am to the baby's birth, the happier I am, which results in better chapters, which results in happier readers! I hope I have a lot of happy readers out there right now, because SO MANY of you wanted this chapter to happen! So, what did you think? Maria isn't Ezra's daughter and Jackie lied about it to get him back! REVIEW PLEASE! **


	19. Chapter 19

**What depressing Ezria scenes this week at the funeral… I mean, I totally see Ezra's point of view, and her parents were standing right there, so if he were to hug her at that moment when she told him she wanted him to, it would have been super awkward. But his way of running away from the situation and saying he'll call her? Not cool Ezra. Not cool. Anyone know if Ezra's in next week's episode? So far, it's not looking good :( **

**Thanks to all my amazing readers and reviewers: HandswithRoses, .dreamers, MzPink4, HarrylovesGinny09, SolitudeMyLove, randomness 101-Fanfic Freak, .10, Television Lover, Lalala17, Anonymous, Aria and Ezra Lover, betheeheartsPLL, EzraandAriaForever, crazyatbest, krysty508, HaleyJamesScottNathanSott, .BeyondConfused., exlarelover515, MagnificentMichelle, and KurdQueen123. (sorry if you're username doesn't fully come up. FF is weird sometimes)**

Ezra took the book from my hands and opened it up to the first page.

"You stole Jackie's diary?" He asked in disbelief.

"I didn't steal it." I snapped. "I… borrowed it without her knowing." I said matter-of-factly, saying something witty that Alison would have come up with. I smiled a little, knowing that she would have been proud.

"Really, Aria?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Just read the damn thing Ezra. It's really important that you read this." I brought my legs up to my chest and rested my head on my knees. I wiped away the stray tear that had escaped my eyes.

I could not understand how someone could use someone in such a way that would break him or her like this. Jackie's lie hurt not only herself and Maria, but Ezra and I too. I shook my head as I thought about how mad Ezra was going to be when he found out. I closed my eyes as I imagined all the yelling and tears that was going to happen when Ezra confronted Jackie. I could see Maria now, hiding behind a couch or something, deathly afraid of this person who she was told to call 'daddy.'

"I can't believe you stole Jackie's diary." He chuckled.

I stayed quiet, fully aware that his semi-cheerful mood was not going to last long. I waited for him to get to the part about Maria being Drew's daughter, not his.

"What the hell?" He gasped. I nodded a little, expecting this kind of response. I knew that he had made it past the first sentence of the entry from March 2, 2007.

He looked up from the book with a frightened look on his face.

"Aria please." He said slowly. "Please don't tell me…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "That Maria is the child that she's talking about being pregnant with." He finished slowly.

"Just keep reading." I commanded. He looked at me for a moment with an anxious look on face. I watched his facial expressions change from that of sympathy, to disbelief and anxiety, to pure anger and hatred as he continued to read through the diary. Half an hour later, he looked up at me from the last page of writing. During the whole time he was reading through the diary, I remained completely silent.

"She lied to me." He whispered, his voice full of disbelief. "She actually lied to me." He repeated.

"Ezra, why is that so hard for you to comprehend? Everyone lies." I mumbled.

"Aria, you don't understand. I loved this woman. I almost married her. And then she ended up using me like this?" His tone of voice was full of disgust. "Using me because she didn't feel like searching for someone who would actually love her! Using me like she doesn't care about anyone but herself!" Ezra chucked the journal clear across our bedroom. It hit the far wall and landed on the floor with a thud. I scooted myself closer to the headboard of the bed, and further away from Ezra, completely scared of the man sitting in front of me. He was breathing very heavily and I could see him struggling to keep himself from exploding in anger.

"Why didn't I ever stop and think about it? We hadn't even been together long enough for her to have a three and a half year old child with me!" Ezra exclaimed frustrated, as he put his head in his hands.

"Because you were too busy trying to comprehend the fact that you _had a daughter that you never knew about." _I answered as I pretended to be examining my nails, so I could avoid looking at him.

"I can't believe she would do something so stupid!" He stood up, shaking in rage.

"She wanted you back. And obviously, she was going to do anything she could to make that happen." I said quietly. "And… she wanted a father for Maria." I paused as I finally looked up at him. "I mean… coming from her perspective as a mother, well, soon to be, in my case, I completely understand her desire for Maria to have two parents. But the whole part about lying to you about her to get you back, was just screwed up."

Ezra muttered something unintelligible under his breath, before sitting back down beside me on the bed and taking a deep breath. I started rubbing his shoulder in a comforting manner, trying to help him calm down.

"I'm so sorry, Ezra." He looked up at me and I could see tears threatening to spill over in his eyes.

He stared out the window of the bedroom for a few moments before speaking again.

"Does she know you have this?" He struggled to keep his voice steady.

"No." I whispered, fully knowing that he was talking about Jackie's journal.

"Where did you find it?" He threw the journal a nasty look.

"In her car… When she asked me to get the bunny. Ezra-" I begun, but stopped myself.

He turned towards me and I could see all the pain he was feeling clearly evident in his eyes. I embraced him in a hug, trying to provide him with some sort of comfort. He rested his head on my shoulder as I rubbed his back soothingly. I never thought the day would come where I would be comforting Ezra, but here we were.

We stayed like that for a moment before Ezra pulled away.

"I'm sorry Aria." Ezra tucked a stray hair behind my ear.

"For what?" I asked, astounded.

"For losing my temper like that and for being such a mess right now. I'm supposed to protect you and be there for you, not the other way around." He said in a quiet voice, not meeting my eyes.

"Ezra!" I said, shocked.

He looked at me with an alarmed look on his face, finally meeting my eyes.

"Don't ever say anything like that." I placed my palm on his cheek and wiped away a stray tear that had escaped his eyes with my thumb. "I'm here for you always, just like you're always here for me and our baby."

"Thank you, Aria." Ezra gave me a small smile as he placed his hand over mine on his cheek, holding mine there. He leaned his face into my palm a little bit and closed his eyes.

"What are you going to do?" I asked him.

"I don't know Aria. I really don't know." He sighed.

"What do you mean you don't know?" I asked desperately. I pulled my hand from his grasp and instead took both Ezra's hands in mine and looked him in the eyes. "You need to confront Jackie!"

"And say what?" He muttered.

"Tell her you know the truth!"

"By telling her what exactly, Aria? That I _accidentally _stumbled upon her stupid diary and found out that she's been lying to me for months?" He cried.

"Yes!" I agreed. "That's exactly what you need to do!"

He put his head in his hands again as he let out a loud moan in frustration.

"Let's do it now, before you lose your courage!" I tugged on his hands, pulling him up from the bed. I lightly pushed him out of the room and towards the front door.

"What's going to happen with Maria?" He slipped his shoes on and grabbed his car keys from the counter in the kitchen.

I shrugged, truthfully not knowing the answer to his question.

"Aria…" He bit his bottom lip and sighed. "What if this isn't a good idea?"

"Ezra, come on." I took his hands in mine again. "She needs to know that you know."

"But… I actually thought that I was Maria's father. I mean, she looks so much like Jackie apart from the dark curls, that no one would ever question if Maria was actually my daughter or not. I feel like I'm about to lose my own child. Not some fake child."

"I understand Ezra, but you've only known her for like, five months. You know what, maybe once Jackie finds out that you know, she'll apologize and all that, maybe you guys can arrange something where you can continue to see Maria on certain days. Not as her dad, but as… as a friend. Like a family friend or something." I suggested.

"That wouldn't be bad…" He contemplated.

"Do you want to call her? Or just go over there?" I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket in a suggestive manner.

"Let's go there. I want to do this face to face." He shook his head. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"I can't believe Jackie couldn't go for someone who was available. She had to go after you." I said, as we got into the car. Just as Ezra was about to open the drivers' door, I stopped him.

"No. Way." I told him, as I snatched the keys from his hands. "There is no possible way that you are going to get me to let you drive in the mental state you're in."

"Aria." He wined as he tried to take the keys from my hand.

"Friends don't let friends drive drunk." I reminded him, as I jumped into the drivers' seat and shoved the key into the ignition.

"First of all, I'm not your friend. I'm so much more than that. Second of all, I'm not drunk at all!" He defended himself.

"No, but you're majorly pissed and would probably try to cause an accident with anyone who tries to come in your way, which to me, is the equivalent of being drunk." I said, completely speaking the truth. Ezra slumped back against the seat in defeat, fully aware that he completely lost our little argument.

Ezra remained quiet the whole car ride. As I stopped at a red light, I peeked a look at him. His jaw was tensed and he was still breathing quite heavily. Both of his hands were clenched into fists.

I took hold of one of his hands in a comforting manner. At my touch, all the tension from his hand disappeared. I gave him a small smile when he looked up at me.

"It's green." He whispered.

I quickly turned away from his enticing eyes that attracted me to him, even when they were clouded with hurt and despair.

I knew I had to be here for him, now, when he needed me most. I made a silent vow to myself that I would not give up, and that I was going to do everything in my power to heal Ezra Fitz once again.

**I'm sorry. You guys probably think I'm really annoying because I'm always leaving you with cliffhangers. I don't mean to… It kind of just happens haha. What did you think of Ezra's reaction? Not mad enough? Too mad? Hope you guys liked it, and PLEASE REVIEW! :) **


	20. Alternate Chapter 20

**Thank you: UndRestimated42, SolitudeMyLove, .stars, HarrylovesGinny09, HandswithRoses, KK, lalala17, iloveu, .BeyondConfused, msbookworm93, MzPink4, crazyatbest, .dreamers, and Television Lover. **

**This chapter is unlike anything I've ever written. It was really hard for me to write and it's kind of… gruesome. So if it's awful, that's why haha. **

I took hold of Ezra's hand as we made our way up to Jackie's apartment. I had Ezra's hand interlocked with one of mine, while my other hand held Jackie's journal. When we reached the door, I knocked twice. I glanced at Ezra, who had a fearful look in his eyes. We waited a moment before I knocked again.

No answer.

"Aria, she's not here. Let's just go back home." Ezra sighed, as he let go of my hand.

Jackie probably was home, but just was not answering the door. It was completely possibly that she had realized that I found her journal, meaning I knew the truth about Maria.

A wave of anger washed over me as I thought about what a cowardly thing to do by not answering the door, would be. How could Jackie be scared of me? She made it clear when she kissed Ezra a few months ago, that she obviously did not care that Ezra was already dating someone else.

As we started walking away from the door, I reached for Ezra's hand. As he was about to take my hand in his, I heard a crash come from inside of Jackie's apartment. I sprinted back towards the door and knocked again.

"Aria, what are you doing? She's not here." Ezra said.

"Didn't you just hear that?" I pressed my ear against the door again listening for any more noise.

"Hear what?" Ezra walked back over to me, very confused.

"Th-that crash." I slowly turned towards Ezra.

"Where's that key Jackie gave you to her apartment?" I asked him frantically.

Ezra stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a lone silver key. I snatched it from his hands and quickly shoved it into the keyhole.

I burst into the apartment, with Jackie's journal in my hand, ready to destroy her for hurting Ezra and for hiding from me. Ezra quietly closed the door behind us, as I was welcomed by an empty living room. As I looked around, nothing seemed out of place. On top of the table, sat a plate of brownies and two glasses of milk, both glasses half drunken. It was very odd that there was food on the table when no one appeared to be home. I turned to Ezra, who had a confused look on his face. Jackie had told us her plans for the day earlier, when she was at our house: take Maria to see Ezra, go grocery shopping, and then go home. It was impossible that she was still out grocery shopping because she had left our house over four hours ago. Ezra and I walked around the apartment, looking for any sign of Jackie or Maria. I knew that someone had to be here; because of the crash I had heard before we walked inside. As I walked into the bathroom, I saw something black moving through my peripheral vision. However, before I could get a clear view of whatever or whoever it was, it was gone.

As I walked into the bedroom, a bloodcurdling scream left my lips.

"ARIA!" Ezra was by my side in an instant and gasped at the sight in front of him.

I let out a whimper as I buried my face in Ezra's chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around me, as tears streamed down both of our faces. I clung onto him and kept envisioning his face as I tried to erase the image I had just seen from my mind. However, my trick was not working at all.

Jackie was lying down on the floor of her bedroom surrounded by her own puddle of blood. Her body was all cut up and as soon as I saw her, I immediately knew she was dead. Maria was lying face down on Jackie's bed, also surrounded by blood.

Ezra let go of me and rushed over to Maria. He flipped her body over so that her back was on the bed. All the color was drained from his face and I saw some tears escape his eyes. I felt so bad for Ezra, because Maria was like his own daughter. I let out another loud sob as I looked at Jackie again. Even though I was mad at her for lying to Ezra, she didn't deserve to be killed! Who in the world would have killed Jackie and why?

I watched Ezra as he placed two fingers on Maria's neck, as he tried to detect a pulse.

"There's barely a pulse!" Ezra gasped as he turned towards me.

"Call 911!" He ordered me as he begun CPR on Maria. I frantically pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly dialed the numbers.

"911. What's your emergency?" A lady on the other end answered.

I spent the next three minutes quickly explaining the situation at hand.

"Paramedics and the police are on their way." I told Ezra, as I rushed back over to him. I saw something bright red on the wall from the corner of my eye.

As I slowly walked towards the wall, tears begun to rapidly fall from my eyes as I registered what was in front of me.

Written in bright red paint, were the words, "You owe me bitch."

As I ran my fingers over the message on the wall, some of the excess paint coated my finger. The overwhelming smell of it filled my nostrils. I gasped as I realized what the so-called 'paint' was. It was not paint at all.

"Blood." I said, in barely a whisper. As I glanced back over to Jackie, my mind quickly made the connection. Whoever had did this had written this message in Jackie's blood.

"Ezra…" I whispered, as I reread the words. As he turned towards me, I pointed to the far wall, directing him where to look.

"Oh my God." Ezra froze as soon as he read the words written on the wall. A look of immense fear was etched on both of our faces. As I looked at the message again, everything suddenly clicked.

"A did this." I managed to say, in between sobs. There was no other explanation. My mind raced as I put all the pieces of the puzzle together. What was written on the wall was clearly an A message. I gasped as I realized that flash of black I had seen a moment ago in the bathroom was A. A was here. A had done this and it had not happened that long ago.

Ezra stayed quiet for a moment as everything begun to sink in, before he exploded with anger.

"How the hell do we explain this to the police?" Ezra asked angrily, as he begun chest compressions on Maria. "Oh, hey, some stalker who calls themselves by a single letter did all this." He said sarcastically, gesturing to Jackie and Maria. "That will go down well."

Both Ezra and I jumped as we heard a door slam. As Ezra jumped off of the bed away from Maria, I ran into his arms and he put them around me protectively.

A moment of silence passed as we waited for another noise, before I shoved Ezra's muscular arms off of my body and I ran from the apartment.

"Aria!" I heard Ezra exclaim. I ignored his cry for me as I sprinted into the hallway, in search of the person who had slammed the door. I saw a glimpse of someone in black clothes and a black mask turn the corner. I immediately knew it was A. However, upon spotting A, as soon as I blinked my eyes, the person was gone.

I tore down the hallway, desperate to catch them, but the corridor was completely empty. A was already gone. My legs burned from all the power I was exerting on them in so little time.

I ran back into the apartment to see Ezra kneeling next to Maria with tears rolling down his face.

A moment later, paramedics burst through the door to Jackie's apartment with a stretcher in hand. Ezra and I watched as Maria and Jackie were loaded onto stretchers.

Both Ezra and I had tears rolling down our faces as we watched the scene in front of us unfold.

A Rosewood policeman that I did not recognize entered the apartment a moment later and started bombarding us with questions. Ezra held me in his arms as I continued to cry, while he answered all the questions.

How could A be so evil? What kind of malicious person could do everything A has done to us and not feel any remorse about it at all? Another sob escaped my throat as my thoughts went crazy. Ezra tightened his hold on me, while I continued to cry, staining his shirt with my tears.

"Do you want us to take you to the hospital?" A paramedic asked me, eying my pregnant belly.

I shook my head, unable to speak because I was crying so hard.

"Are you sure you don't want to go, Aria? They can just check on you and make sure everything's okay. All this stress can't be good for the baby." Ezra whispered in my ear.

I shook my head, not wanting to go. Thankfully, the overprotective side of Ezra did not pester me about it.

We were told to leave the apartment so the police could start searching around for clues for their new murder investigation.

The car ride back to our house was silent. Ezra held my hand in his as I curled up in the front seat and cried.

What scared me the most was how much power A had over everyone I knew and me. I wrapped my arms around my waist in a protective manner. I remembered a text A had sent me a few months ago, about A hurting my baby.

A shrill ringing interrupted my train of thought. I wiped away some of the tears on my face with my hand as I picked up Ezra's cell phone out of the cup holder it was sitting in. My heart skipped a beat as I read the caller ID. It portrayed an unknown number. I was about to answer it, before I stopped myself. What if it was A? A only sends us messages through an unknown number. I suddenly realized that if A talked to me, then I might be able to recognize their voice, helping me to figure out who A actually was! I flipped open the phone and was greeted by the same policeman that had come to Jackie's apartment.

He informed me that Maria had passed away in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. We conversed for a moment more before I hung up the phone in a state of complete shock.

"Maria's dead." I whispered to Ezra, as I begun crying even harder than before. As I thought about the text A had sent me months ago about hurting my baby, I realized that A's message was completely true, however, it was not meant for me. It was meant for Ezra and Jackie. Maria was Ezra's little girl, well, kind of, and A committed an unforgivable crime towards her. A took Maria away from Ezra… forever.

Tears fell harder and quicker down my cheeks as the reality of what was happening around me finally begun to completely sink in.

The police had no evidence of who committed the murder. We had no idea who was posing to be A. As I wracked my brain for some person to come to mind who would do something so horrific, no one in particular came to mind. Sure, the girls and I had done some mean things back when Alison was alive, but we never did anything that made us deserve to have a malicious stalker trail us and murder people we knew, did we?

Even though Ezra and I knew exactly who the offender of the crime was, I knew that if either of us told the police about A, A would strike again, possibly in a more gruesome way than the last.

**So… I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I've already planned most of the next chapter though, and so far, it looks much better than this one. What did you guys think? Was it too evil of me to kill off Jackie and Maria? REVIEW PLEASE! Love you all!**

**If you guys think that it was wayy too mean of me to have A murder Jackie and Maria, then if it really is bothering any of you, I can delete this one and give you guys an alternate chapter instead that involves Jackie's reaction and no deaths. Let me know if you want me to change this chapter or not. I've already planned out the storyline for the rest of the story for either way you guys want me to do it. So I don't mind if you guys want me to change this. Thanks! **


	21. Chapter 20

**So I decided to write you guys an alternate chapter. After you read this one, let me know which one you guys like more, and I'll continue the story from there. Some of this chapter is like the other one… i.e. the whole beginning. I promise this one is much less mean. **

I took hold of Ezra's hand as we made our way up to Jackie's apartment. I had Ezra's hand interlocked with one of mine, while my other hand held Jackie's journal. When we reached the door, I knocked twice. I glanced at Ezra, who had a fearful look in his eyes. We waited a moment before I knocked again.

No answer.

"Aria, she's not here. Let's just go back home." Ezra sighed, as he let go of my hand.

Jackie probably was home, but just was not answering the door. It was completely possibly that she had realized that I found her journal, meaning I knew the truth about Maria.

A wave of anger washed over me as I thought about what a cowardly thing to do by not answering the door, would be. How could Jackie be scared of me? She made it clear when she kissed Ezra a few months ago, that she obviously did not care that Ezra was already dating someone else.

As we started walking away from the door, I reached for Ezra's hand. As he was about to take my hand in his, I heard a crash come from inside of Jackie's apartment. I sprinted back towards the door and knocked again.

"Aria, what are you doing? She's not here." Ezra said.

"Didn't you just hear that?" I pressed my ear against the door again listening for any more noise.

"Hear what?" Ezra walked back over to me, very confused.

"Th-that crash." I slowly turned towards Ezra.

"Where's that key Jackie gave you to her apartment?" I asked him frantically.

Ezra stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a lone silver key. I snatched it from his hands and quickly shoved it into the keyhole.

I burst into the apartment, with Jackie's journal in my hand, ready to destroy her for hurting Ezra and for hiding from me. Ezra quietly closed the door behind us, as I was welcomed by an empty living room. As I looked around, nothing seemed out of place. On top of the table, sat a plate of brownies and two glasses of milk, both glasses half drunken. It was very odd that there was food on the table when no one appeared to be home. I turned to Ezra, who had a confused look on his face. Jackie had told us her plans for the day earlier, when she was at our house: take Maria to see Ezra, go grocery shopping, and then go home. It was impossible that she was still out grocery shopping because she had left our house over four hours ago. Ezra and I walked around the apartment, looking for any sign of Jackie or Maria. I knew that someone had to be here; because of the crash I had heard before we walked inside.

We finally found Jackie in the bathroom helping Maria brush her teeth. On the floor lay a glass surrounded by a puddle of water. That must have been what had fallen earlier.

"Oh!" Jackie exclaimed. "When did you guys get here? I didn't hear a knock."

I held the journal behind my back as Ezra walked up to Jackie. He stood in front of her portraying no emotion on his face.

"We need to talk."

Jackie looked a bit taken aback at his request, but agreed.

"Well, let me just get her in bed and then we can talk." She shrugged as she led Maria to her bedroom.

Ezra walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch as I followed suit. I hid the journal behind my back, wanting Jackie to see it at just the right time.

As I took Ezra's hand in mine, I could tell that he was really struggling with this. Someone he knew so well, someone he once loved so much, had used him in such an awful and tormented way.

Jackie emerged from the bedroom a moment later. Ezra and I looked up at her wordlessly.

"So, what did you guys want to talk about?" She sat down in a chair across from us and crossed her legs.

Ezra looked at me expectantly. As I pulled the journal out from behind my back, I watched Jackie's face drain of all its color.

"So I take it that you recognize this?" I whispered. Jackie gasped as soon as she recognized what was in my hand.

"Where did you get that?" She asked in barely a whisper.

"That's clearly not the issue here." Ezra snapped.

"How much of it did you read?" Jackie asked quietly.

"All of it. How the hell could you do this to me?" Ezra snatched the notebook from my hand and held it in front of Jackie's face.

"Ezra, I-" She started to say, but Ezra cut her off.

"Are you that conceited?" He demanded. "Why would you lie to Maria? She thinks I'm her father. When she's older and she figures out the truth, she'll never forgive you!"

"I'm sorry!" She yelled. "But Ezra, you don't understand! Drew would have been the most awful father to Maria! He used to beat me and yell at me for everything!" I watched Ezra and Jackie argue as tears fell down Jackie's face.

"That doesn't give you any reason to lie to me!" Ezra exploded. "You led me to believe that I had a daughter with you! You kissed me and you almost destroyed my relationship with Aria! Out of the billions of guys in this world, why the hell did you have to go after me? You knew I had moved on! You knew that I stopped loving you the way I used to! Yet you still tried to get me back. You disgust me Jackie."

"I'm sorry!" She squealed. "I just wanted to be with you again. Remembering how happy we used to be, made me regret ever breaking up with you. Remember Ezra? We used to go to dinner together, we used to go out on double dates with Jessica and Andrew, we used to be so in love and we thought that nothing would ever be able to break us apart!"

Ezra sat back down on the couch as a flood of memories washed over him.

"You destroyed us, Jackie. It was all you. And I'm not going to let you try and twist the past and blame me!"

"It was your fault too!" She yelled. "I was not even twenty two and you wanted me to marry you and make such a big commitment! I had barely started my life, and you wanted to end it for me, right then and there!" She paused, breathing heavily.

"Has he asked you to marry him yet?" She asked me, clearly outraged.

I shook my head.

"So because she's younger, you're not going to make her marry you?" She asked angrily.

I chose not to answer, not wanting to become a part of the fight.

"But Jackie, that was the past. This is now." He said quietly. "And I don't know if I can ever forgive you for this."

"I understand. And I'm really sorry Ezra. I just wanted… someone to be there for us. And you were such an amazing person to me when we were together; I thought that you would be a perfect father to Maria." She wiped some tears away from her eyes. "And you were for the time there was. She really loves you Ezra."

"Mommy?" We heard a soft voice ask. We all turned around to see Maria standing by the doorway clutching her bunny in hand. She had tears falling down her face.

"Why dis Daddy yelling?" She ran into her mothers' arms and Jackie embraced Maria, holding her close to her chest.

Maria looked up at Ezra. I watched Ezra melt as he saw Maria. I knew deep down that even though Ezra was mad, he had begun to love Maria like his own daughter. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, hoping that Ezra would love our child unconditionally too.

Ezra let out a huge sigh, as he put his head in his hands.

"What am I supposed to do here? Are you going to tell her the truth?" Ezra gestured to Maria, who held her arms out to him, wanting him to hold her.

Jackie reluctantly released her and let Maria make her way over to Ezra. Ezra picked her up and sat her down on his lap.

"Daddy why you crying?" Maria reached up to touch a tear of Ezra's face.

Ezra looked at Jackie, not knowing how to respond.

"Maria, honey, um, there's something we need to tell you."

Jackie explained.

Maria looked up at Jackie expectantly, waiting for her to continue.

"Well, Ezra isn't your d-" she began, but I cut her off.

"Ezra's just sad about something. He'll be okay though." I told Maria, not wanting to break her little heart. "You should go back to sleep now, honey." I smiled at her and she smiled back.

She rubbed her eyes and let out a big yawn.

"Okay. Bye-bye." Maria waved as Jackie led her back to her bedroom.

"What was that about?" Ezra turned to me, very confused.

"I just feel so bad for her." I explained. "She's so young, and she doesn't realize what's going on right now. She's so... Fragile." I searched for the right words to explain what I was thinking. "It's just not the right time to hurt her like this." I sighed. "Poor girl, she's going to be completely crushed when she learns the truth."

"You're right." Ezra took my hand in his and rubbed my shoulder soothingly as I settled myself against his chest.

Jackie came back a moment later.

"Aria... Why did you do that?" She asked softly.

"Maria doesn't deserve to be hurt like that. Knowing the truth is just going to crush her." I told her.

"You're right." She agreed. "But it's not fair to you and Ezra to continue living a lie like this." Jackie looked down, not wanting to meet Ezra's eyes or mine.

Ezra and I nodded in agreement.

"Ezra and I talked earlier though and... We were wondering," I paused, as I glanced at Ezra. "What if Ezra continued to see Maria whenever he or she wanted, but more like a friend than a father?" I suggested.

"You would really do that?" Jackie asked hopefully.

Ezra nodded. "For Maria. Not you." He clarified.

"Thank you Ezra. And you too Aria." She said. "I... I understand how upset you both are about me lying to you, but like I said earlier, I was thinking about Maria and only Maria. Do you see where I was coming from?" Jackie pleaded, hoping we would understand.

"As a soon to be mother, yeah I do. But there's lots of kids out there who grew up without a father." I reminded her.

"I know… but…" Jackie looked up at us and I could tell from her glassy eyes that she truly was sorry.

"It's getting late." I told Ezra. "We should go." I stood up and held my hand out for him to take.

Ezra remained silent as we started walking towards the door.

"I really am… sorry." Jackie said, as another tear fell down her face. "Can we still be friends?" She asked Ezra and I hopefully.

"I don't know right now, Jackie." Ezra answered. "I just… need some time to think about all of this before I make any more decisions."

Ezra took one last look at Jackie before we left the house.

"Glad that's over." I commented.

Ezra stayed quiet as we got into the car and started to drive home.

"You okay?" I asked, as I took his hand in mine.

"Y-yeah." He assured me, as he gave me a small smile.

As we reached a red light, I leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. Although I knew he was deeply hurting, I knew that it was better now that he knew the truth about Maria, then to continue living a lie he never told. I hoped that Ezra would be healed a bit more before our baby comes, so that he can be the most amazing father to him or her too.

**Much better? I think I'm just going to keep that other chapter in here instead of completely deleting it, but I'm going to continue the story off of this chapter. Let me know what you guys thought and whether or not you liked this one better! I have to admit, I do! Review please! **


	22. Author's Note

**So chapter 20 and chapter 21 are the same chapter with different scenario's. I changed the original chapter 20 into chapter 21. The rest of the story will be based off of chapter 21. Hope you guys like the new chapter better! **


	23. Chapter 23

**I know I've been focusing on other stuff besides the baby lately, but all the baby stuff will be coming. I promise. I know I'm really rushing the pregnancy at this point, but I just want this baby to be born already! **

I woke up to Ezra peppering soft kisses along my neck.

"Mhmm." I sighed in contentment, as I opened my eyes just a crack.

"Good morning." He sang, as he softly pressed his lips to mine. After I pulled away, I realized that he was already dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. I could faintly smell the delicious scent of his body wash that he had used in the shower.

"What time is it?" I whispered.

"Nine."

"Ugh, it's too early." I groaned as I rolled onto my side and pulled the covers over my head.

"You have your doctor's appointment at 10:30." He reminded me.

"Ugh. What idiot scheduled it so early?" I groaned.

"You." He laughed.

I shoved the covers away from my face and sighed.

"Five more minutes?" I asked hopefully.

"If you want." He sang. "But I made you breakfast." He winked, as he got off of the bed and left the room.

I lay within the warmth of my comforter for a few more moments, before forcing myself to get up and start my day. I had been sleeping more and more as the months went by, due to my pregnancy. My morning sickness had subsided completely and the only thing that was bothering me besides the large amount of clothes that slowly stopped fitting me, was my aching back and feet. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. As I waited for the water to heat up, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. After a quick shower, I arrived at a big dilemma: what to wear.

I sighed as I opened up the large French doors to my side of our closet. After five different outfit changes, I realized that I was screwed. I really needed to go shopping with Hanna soon. With Hanna by my side, I would probably end up buying a whole new wardrobe to last me three more pregnancies; wearing a different outfit every single day. Ten excruciating minutes later, I finally settled on a short black flowing dress with a big white belt.

"Doctor's appointment number five, here I come." I muttered as I slid my sandals onto my feet.

We arrived at the doctor's office and walked straight into the waiting room. As Ezra and I sat down in the blue chairs, I spotted a pregnancy magazine a few seats away from us.

"Ezra, could you grab that for me please?"

He reached over the seats to grab it and handed it to me. He took one of my hands in his, while I used my other hand to read the magazine.

As I started flipping through the pages, I couldn't help but coo over how small the baby clothes in the magazine were.

"Look how small these shoes are! It says that this is there actual size!" I exclaimed to Ezra, as I pointed to a pair of shoes made for premature babies.

He chuckled in response to my over eagerness. As I continued flipping through the magazine, I spotted a picture of a huge teddy bear next to an article on the Top Ten Toys a Newborn Baby Should Not Receive.

"What kind of sleeping thing do you think our baby will have? Like their favorite toy or whatever?" I asked Ezra, as I set the magazine down on my lap.

"Maria has a bunny, Emily had a blanket, Spencer had a teddy bear, I had pigtunia **(If you read the books, you'll recognize this reference, although I don't think Aria got pigtunia until she was older)** and Hanna…" I sighed.

"Hanna what?" He questioned.

"Hanna had her first designer purse." I laughed. "It was Juicy Couture. Ashley, Hanna's mom, told me that Hanna carried that thing everywhere when she was a toddler. She slept with it and ate with it and everything."

"Why is that not hard for me to believe?" Ezra laughed.

"Aria Montgomery?" I heard a very surprised voice ask.

At the same moment I lifted my head to look at the person, Ezra's laughter quickly subsided, and I heard him faintly mutter, "Shit."

I sucked in a breath of air as Mrs. Welch's plump body filled my vision. I quickly yanked Ezra's hand out of mine and folded my hands together in my lap, hoping that she did not see our hands intertwined.

"And Ezra Fitz." She said smugly, obviously hinting at us that she had seen us holding hands.

"I always knew there was something going on with you two." She smirked. She gasped as she spotted my pregnant stomach.

"You got a student pregnant?" She shrieked at Ezra, looking at him in disbelief.

Ezra did not respond, for he was completely at lost for words. Just as he was about to respond, he was interrupted.

"Aria Montgomery?" A petite blonde woman asked. I silently thanked God for the interruption so that Mrs. Welch could not longer ask any more questions.

As I stood up, I realized how many people had been staring at Ezra and I. But of course this looked weird. I still do not understand how Ezra thought I was in college when we first met, because in reality, I looked younger than I actually was. And now people were seeing me, a teenager, pregnant, and holding the hand of an older man? Just thinking about all of the different disgusting scenario's people were coming up with in their minds, started to give me a headache.

We followed the blonde lady who introduced herself as Dr. Shelby, into one of the small rooms.

"How are you feeling today?" She asked me.

"Good, thanks." I smiled.

"Today, we are going to be taking your weight, checking your blood pressure, taking a urine sample, checking the baby's growth, and you will get to hear your baby's heartbeat." She informed us. I gave Ezra's hand a little squeeze when she told us about the heartbeat, because both Ezra and I were very excited to hear it.

After the sample, weight and blood pressure check, it was time for the ultrasound. I laid down on the examination table and Ezra held my hand.

"This might be a little cold." Dr. Shelby said, as she rubbed a clear gel onto my stomach, causing me to shiver.

A moment later, she was tracing over my stomach with the transducer. Ezra and I gasped in delight as our baby was portrayed up on the screen.

"Wow…" I whispered. There was just something so special about seeing my baby up there. It made all of this so much more real. I felt a few tears slide down my cheeks in awe. I looked up at Ezra to see his blue eyes a little bit wet too.

"The amniotic fluid level is good, and your baby currently weighs about one pound, which is healthy for this stage of development. They're about eight inches long. You see here? There's the head." She pointed to a spot on the screen where the baby's head was.

"At this month, your baby is starting to grow hair and eyebrows. She or he can make facial expressions. She or he can hear your heartbeat, and your voices."

"That's amazing…" Ezra whispered.

"Would you like to know the sex?" She asked.

"No!" I exclaimed, at the same time, Ezra exclaimed, "Yes!"

He looked at me with a very confused expression. "You don't want to know?" He questioned. "How are we going to buy baby stuff if we don't know the sex of the baby?"

"We'll figure a way to do it all. Come on, please?" I begged.

Dr. Shelby looked at Ezra and he shrugged. "I guess not then."

She smiled in response.

"I can tell that you both are going to be great parents. Even though you are a young couple, I am already pretty confident that you two will have a great family." She grinned.

I looked up at Ezra, who was looking at me with a look of pure love.

"You two _definitely _will be together forever. Just the look of love in each of your eyes when you look at each other is making _me _ feel the love in this room." She laughed.

"Thanks." I blushed.

"So would you guys like to take home some of the ultrasound pictures?"

"Um, yeah, sure." I accepted.

Ten minutes later Ezra and I were walking out of the doctors' office hand in hand studying the ultrasound pictures of our baby in amazement. During the drive home, I continued to look at the pictures. This was my baby in front of me. This picture showed me their tiny body. This baby was half me and half Ezra. I tore my eyes away from the picture to look at Ezra. I could not help but smile at the sight of him. I got so lucky to meet him at Snookers that day. I have never met anyone as perfect for me as Ezra. I could not help but think about what my life would be like if Ezra and I had not met in that bar. He would have just been my English teacher. Just another person in my life that stuck around for a year, then left, never to be thought of or seen again. But no, here I was, growing up _so fast, _dating my High School English teacher, who I was head over heels for, having a baby, and living in my own house. All this was happening to me and I was not even a legal adult!

As we were walking back inside the house, everything suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I was going to become a mother. I was going to have a baby. An actual baby! That I would have to feed and change diapers for and buy toys for and put to bed at night! I had been so focused on Jackie and Maria that I hadn't even thought twice about the fact that there was a baby inside of me until today!

"Ezra…" I whispered, a ghostly look on my face. "I can't do this." I slowly sat down onto the couch, still in a state of shock.

"Aria, what's wrong?" He sat down next to me, and took my hands in his.

"I'm just… I can't do this. I can't take care of a baby! I'm still a child myself!"

"Aria!" He said, shocked. "You are the opposite of a child. You are more mature than some people I know that are my age."

I looked away from him.

"Hey, it's not just you, I'm here too." He reminded me.

"I know, but still. I'm a teenager about to become a mother."

"There's plenty of teenager mothers in the world, who raised their babies perfectly!" He said.

I continued looking away and when I did not reply, he spoke again.

"Aria, I'm twenty two! I've got a job, and I'm ready to settle down with my life! I want to get married to you one day, have a couple kids, watch them grow up and all that stuff!"

"But Ezra, I'm only sixteen! My life has barely started! I'm madly in love with you, but I'm really not ready for any of this! I'm growing up way to fast. I'm having a baby, Ezra. A baby! I'm still a junior in high school!"

"Aria." He growled. "You're the one who fought so hard for us to be together in the first place. If it were not for you, we would not be together now. After we found out we were teacher and student, _ you _came to me telling me that our relationship was right!"

"I know… but-"

Ezra interrupted my rant by kissing me. I felt the familiar sparks radiate throughout my body at his touch, as he forcefully pressed his lips against mine. I returned the kiss with just as much eagerness, before he finally pulled away.

"Did you feel that?" He whispered in my ear.

I nodded, still breathing heavily from the kiss, fully knowing he was talking about the sparks.

"We stayed together Aria, because we didn't think it was right to give up on _that. _ And it's not right."

"But-" I began, but Ezra cut me off.

"But nothing, Aria. I love you, you love me, we're together, and Jackie is no longer threatening our relationship!" He said desperately. "How come all of a sudden you are feeling so insecure about all of this?" He took my hands in his, genuinely wanting to help me feel better about all of this.

"I-I don't know… Everything just kind of… hit me after the doctor's appointment." I whispered.

"Aria, you need to stop worrying so much. Please, you are going to stress yourself out for no reason." He frowned. "How about we go shopping tomorrow? Start getting stuff for the baby." He suggested. He knew that shopping always cheered me up; a therapy of sorts that I had started since Hanna and I became close.

I gave him a small smile and a nod. I took his face in my hands and kissed him.

"Thank you." I whispered to him.

"For what?"

"For always knowing the right thing to say." I smiled.

**Anyone else read Marlene King's twitter? She said we have absolutely no idea about what is going to happen in 209. If Aria and Ezra are not going to have sex in episode nine, yet the scenes will make us "fall off the couch" and there's three great Ezria scenes, then what in the world happens? Ugh! Maybe she's just messing with us? (Hopefully) Because she confirmed earlier that they will have sex at some point. **

**Also, originally with that other storyline, I was planning on having Ezra get framed for Jackie and Maria's murder… But not anymore haha. **

**Also, I want to start a new story of Ezria one-shots; but I'm not sure what exactly I want them about… haha. So if there's a certain theme or anything that you guys want to see in one shots, let me know! :)**

**Sorry this note was so long haha. Anyways, hope you guys liked this chapter! REVIEW PLEASE! **


	24. Chapter 24

**Can we aim for at least 10 reviews per chapter? Please? I hate begging for reviews, but I don't see a point in writing if people aren't enjoying my stories. Thank you HarrylovesGinny09, SolitudeMyLove, MzPink4, .dreamers, msbookworm93, lalala17, betheeheartsPLL, and crazyatbest for your reviews! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

"Can the girls come with us? Please?" I begged Ezra the next morning over breakfast. He set down a plate of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast in front of me.

"Yeah, I guess." He shrugged, as he grabbed silverware for the two of us.

"Hey." I slapped his arm playfully, as he sat down next to me and started eating from his plate. "They're not that bad, are they?"

He immediately smiled at me. "Spencer and Emily are great, but Hanna… that girl is just something else."

"You think you've got it bad?" I laughed in response, before stuffing a forkful of eggs into my mouth. "You should hear the things she says about us when you're _not _ around. All the jokes about the whole teacher student thing; she thinks that our relationship is… well… how do I say this nicely…" I paused, searching for an appropriate word, but coming up with nothing. "Hot."

"Oh my God." Ezra groaned. I laughed at his embarrassment as I dialed up Spencer's number on my cell phone.

"Hello?" Spencer answered after one ring.

"Hey, can you get Han and Em on the line too?"

She agreed, before putting me on hold. A moment later, Hanna and Emily's voices chimed throughout the phone.

"So what's going on?" Emily asked curiously.

"Well," I hesitated and glanced at Ezra. "Ezra and I were going shopping for the baby today, and we wanted to know if you guys wanted to come?" My statement ended up coming out more as a question than a request.

"Yes!" Hanna rejoiced. "A day out with you and Fitzy? Score!"

Ezra groaned in response to Hanna's comment, which he had obviously overheard.

"Ezra said earlier that he didn't want you to come, Han." I tried containing my laugher, but failed miserably.

"He what?" She yelled as Ezra snatched the phone from my hands and glared at me.

"He would rather it just be Em and Spence!" I shouted into the phone before Ezra got up from the table and walked to the other side of the room so he could talk to Hanna without my interruptions. I was laughing uncontrollably as I watched him struggle to defend himself.

"I didn't say that!" Ezra tried to explain. He put the phone on speaker so I could hear their conversation.

"Fitzy, you're going to pay." Hanna told him. Spencer and Emily were laughing hysterically in the background.

"_This _ is why I did not want her to come." Ezra whispered to me, as he covered the speaker with his hand. "We're still at home and I already feel uncomfortable!"

"I heard that!" Hanna laughed through the other end. "Fitz, the fun is just starting."

"How did she hear that?" He asked in disbelief, before handing the phone back to me. He sat down at the table and started eating his breakfast again, all while watching me talk to Hanna.

"Han, can you please be nice?" I begged as I got up and grabbed two water bottles from the fridge.

"Nope." She replied, as I handed a bottle to Ezra.

"Hey Aria," Spencer said, finally speaking. "Can I bring Toby with us? Will you mind?"

"Do you care?" I whispered to Ezra. He shook his head no in response.

"Yeah, go ahead! Han, you should bring Caleb too, and Em, bring Samara! It'll be fun!"

"Are you sure?" Emily asked reluctantly.

"Yes I'm one hundred percent sure." I said confidently.

They all agreed and we arranged to meet up downtown in an hour.

I sat back down at the table just as Ezra was getting up to put his empty plate into the dishwasher.

"This is going to be an interesting shopping trip." Ezra chuckled as he sat back down beside me.

…PLL…

"There they are!" I grabbed Ezra's hand and led him over to Spencer and Toby, who had just gotten out of Spencer's car.

"Hey guys!" Spencer exclaimed. She ran up to me to give me a hug. With my pregnant belly in the way, it was awkward to say the least.

"Um, hi, ." Toby said skeptically, evidently unsure of what to call Ezra. Hanna, Caleb, Emily, and Samara all came up behind us a moment later.

"Did Spe-" Ezra began, but Spencer cut him off.

"Yeah, we already told them about you guys, just so we could avoid the awkwardness of it all." She said.

"Okay, well that works, I guess." Ezra said slowly. "Could you do me one favor though?"

"What would that be?" Samara asked curiously.

"Call me Ezra. I'm not your teacher anymore." He requested.

"You were never my teacher… but okay!" Samara exclaimed, which earned a laugh from Emily.

As we roamed the streets of downtown Rosewood, Ezra took this shopping trip as an opportunity to get to know Toby and Caleb. I was surprised at how well they all bonded together.

"Ezra fits right in." Spencer turned around to glance at the boys. Ezra and Caleb were laughing at something Toby had said.

"Yeah I know." I agreed. "I'm glad. I was worried it might be weird for them all, since Ezra was once our teacher and he's older… but right now looking at them, you wouldn't even know he was our teacher unless you asked. He still acts like a teenager sometimes."

"Oh my god!" Hanna squealed. "We have to go in here!" I looked to where Hanna was pointing to find myself face to face with a shop that sold baby stuff specifically for newborns.

Hanna, Spencer, Emily, Samara, and I ran inside, with the boys not far behind us. We all went our separate ways as soon as we set foot inside of the store, each of us in search of cute things for my baby.

"Wait!" Hanna yelled, causing all of us to freeze in place.

"Are you having a boy or a girl?" She asked me cryptically.

Ezra laughed at her question and watched me as I struggled to answer her.

"Um.." I looked down at my feet as I felt the heat in my body all rising to my cheeks. "Well, uh-" I tried to say.

"We don't know the sex yet." Ezra told Hanna, saving me.

"How in the world do you expect us to start buying you stuff for your baby if you don't know if it is a boy or a girl?" Hanna asked angrily.

"I'm sure you'll manage, Han." I shrugged.

"Ugh." She huffed in annoyance.

"I didn't want to know the sex. I wanted it to be a surprise!" I admitted. "If it makes you that happy, we will learn it next doctor's appointment. Okay?"

"Thank you!" She smiled. "But since we are here, we should at least start buying some stuff, right?"

"But we do not know if I'm having a boy or a girl." I stated the obvious once again. How in the world did Hanna think we were going to be able to buy stuff for the baby if we did not know the sex?

"We'll buy you the stuff that can be for either a boy or a girl." She clarified as she took hold of Caleb's hand and sauntered off towards the back of the store.

I turned back towards the rest of the group to realize that Spencer and Toby had already strolled off on their own and were already browsing through the large collection of baby shoes. Emily and Samara had disappeared from our view too.

"These are so cute!" I faintly heard Spencer exclaim. "Can we get these and save them for our baby?" She begged Toby.

"Spence, I don't want to have a baby for a long, long, time." Toby chuckled.

"Yeah, me either, but we can keep them in a safe place until then!"

Toby sighed, before giving in. "Fine. But _you _get to keep them! I'd rather not have to explain to my parents why I have baby shoes sitting in my closet."

"Thank you!" She took Toby's face in her hands and kissed him roughly on the lips.

I laughed as they broke apart a moment later.

"Did you see all that?" I asked Ezra, who was smiling next to me, watching the young couple.

He nodded, before we started strolling hand in hand through the isles.

"Do you still have the ultrasound pictures?" Ezra suddenly asked. He turned to me and stopped walking.

"Um, yeah. They are in my purse." I patted my purse but looked at him in confusion at the random question. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing, Toby just asked me to see them earlier." He led me into the section that had all the cribs and we started examining each one.

"What color should we get?" I asked. "White? Pink? Blue? Brown?"

"You really should have listened to me. Hanna's right, how are we going to buy stuff for the baby if we don't know the sex?" He smirked.

I groaned loudly.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Ezra asked worriedly.

"You guys keep asking me that! It was my mistake, okay? If it will make you all happy, when we get home we can schedule another appointment just to find out the sex!" I said loudly. I was clearly becoming very frustrated, and my pregnancy hormones were not helping the situation.

Ezra wrapped his arms around me and whispered, "Thank you," in my ear.

"Why do you always have to win?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Because I'm me." He winked, before leaning down to softly place a kiss on my lips.

I pulled away from Ezra suddenly and let out a loud gasp.

"Even _I_ felt that." Ezra laughed, as he placed a hand on my stomach, waiting for the baby to kick again.

"What's going on?" Emily and Samara appeared out of nowhere pushing a shopping cart filled with diapers, bottles, and toys.

"The baby's kicking." I smiled.

"Aww!" Samara cooed, as Emily came over to me.

"Can I- Can I feel?" Emily asked nervously.

"Of course, Em." I laughed. She put her hand over my stomach and stood quietly in front of me, waiting for any movement.

"I don't feel anything." She said, her voice full of disappointment.

"Just wait." Ezra put his hand over Emily's on my stomach. Not even three seconds later, Emily finally felt the baby kick again.

"Ezra has the magic touch." Samara laughed.

"I guess I do." Ezra said smugly.

"What's going on?" I heard Spencer's voice ask. I spun around to see Toby pushing a cart filled with so much stuff that I could not identify half of it no matter how hard I tried.

"Oh, Toby." Ezra took my purse from my shoulder and pulled the ultrasound pictures out of it. He handed them to Toby, who begun to look at them with Spencer. They both were clearly in awe at the sight.

Hanna and Caleb came over to us a moment later, with their cart filled with clothes, clothes and more clothes. Typical Hanna.

"Han, what in the world did you pick out? I told you, we don't know even the sex yet."

"Don't you think that a newborn is a little bit _young _to be wearing Coach shoes?" Spencer held up a tiny pair of Coach gym shoes.

"These socks are cute though." Samara held up a pair of pink socks with lace around the top of the sock.

"Guys, we don't know if I'm having a girl." I reminded them all as I started going through all the stuff in Emily's cart.

"Oh, don't worry, I got boy clothes too." Hanna assured me.

Ezra and I spent the next thirty minutes quickly going through each cart and choosing everything we wanted, and omitting everything we did not.

In the end, Ezra and I managed to get the four carts of baby stuff down to only two.

"Baby's need so much stuff." I complained, as I helped Hanna load stuff onto the register belt.

"Pink bottles?" I picked up the package that I had not seen before and held it up in front of Hanna. "What if I have a boy? Ezra definitely won't let our son drink our of pink bottles!" I exclaimed.

"Aria!" Toby walked over to us. "You need to calm down. If you end up having a boy, you can just return the stuff that are for girls. And if you have a girl, just return the stuff for a boy." Toby said simply.

"But that's so much work…" I groaned as I leaned against the nearby wall and placed a hand over my stomach.

"I think we'll be okay, Aria. The store will let you return items whenever you want. There isn't the usual ninety day return policy." Ezra took my hand in his in an attempt to stop my extensive worrying.

"Take a deep breath, Aria." Toby advised, going through the quick motion along with me.

"Sorry, guys. I don't mean to be all annoying and bossy. It's the pregnancy hormones. They make me crazy."

"You guys have not even seen the half of it." Ezra whispered to Toby and Caleb, who laughed in response.

…PLL…

Emily, Samara, Toby, Spencer, Hanna, and Caleb, all followed Ezra and I home to help us start setting up the nursery. When we arrived at home, it took half an hour until everything was unloaded out of all of the cars.

I was sitting on the steps leading towards the house watching and directing everyone on where to put all of our stuff.

"Where do you want this?" Spencer asked, holding up a box of diapers.

"Um, I'm not exactly sure. Closet in the baby's room or hallway bathroom? For now? What do you think?" I asked, puzzled.

"Closet." Ezra said, as he walked by me and hoisted up a box from the trunk of our car. Ezra, Caleb, and Toby, all slowly lifted up the box that held the crib and hauled it into the house. I could not help but notice how each of their toned muscles strained against the fabric of their shirts. They all came back a moment later to continue lugging items into the house.

"Mhmm, Caleb's morning workouts are definitely coming in handy." Hanna looked at Caleb with a look of deep love in her eyes.

"Toby's been doing all that manual labor for his carpentry job, so that helps too." Spencer added.

I kept quiet because lately, Ezra had stopped his usual morning workouts to spend time with me instead.

Spencer, Emily, Samara, and Hanna, all noticed my silence and were watching me, waiting for me to add in something about Ezra.

"Ezra hasn't had time to go to the gym. He's so protective that he refuses to leave me all alone in that big house in the mornings."

"Then how is he that toned?" Spencer asked, putting her hands on her hips.

I shrugged in response, truly not knowing the answer.

"I know." Hanna said. Her mouth was curled up into an evil smile, meaning she was about to bust a joke, clearly about Ezra and I.

"Obviously," She said, matter-of-factly, "He gets that workout from his nightly sessions with Aria."

My face turned beet red and I turned away from the girls so that they would not be able to see my face. I covered my face with my hands in humiliation.

"What's going on?" Ezra came over to me with Caleb and Toby walking behind him.

Hanna looked at him mischievously.

"Don't even think about it!" I exclaimed at Hanna, fully knowing she was about to crack another joke.

"What?" She asked innocently.

Ezra just shook his head at Hanna; completely knowing she had said something to embarrass me about him and I.

"Who wants lemonade?" I asked, trying to make something other than Ezra and I the topic of our discussion.

A chorus of "me's!" erupted throughout the yard, as I got up and went inside, in search for some lemons.

**I know it's still early in the story for this, but I would love it if you guys could start giving me suggestions for baby names for a boy or a girl and your preference of the gender of the baby. I'll make the gender that gets the most "votes" the sex of the baby. Thanks and hope you liked this chapter! Please review with suggestions! Love you all! **


	25. Chapter 25

**Everything in these next few chapters come from a firsthand source and is a true story. You cannot get more accurate than this. However, technology may have changed a bit since the time this happened in real life from the source I got it from, and now.**

Aria's POV

"Thanks, we'll see you next week." I hung up the phone with our doctor's secretary. I had just scheduled another appointment specifically for Hanna's pleasure, so that Ezra and I could find out the sex of the baby. Once we learned the sex, we would be able to fully start decorating the nursery and buying clothes for the baby and all the other necessities.

I walked back over to the couch to continue doing the math homework that Ezra had "assigned" me earlier. I set my laptop beside me on the couch, since it was so hard doing anything in my lap because my pregnant belly was in the way. As I read the next problem, I let out a huge sigh. No one would ever understand how much I hated math homework.

I looked up from my laptop to see Ezra sitting at the kitchen table, grading papers. I rested my chin on my knee and watched him intently. He had a determined look on his face and was scribbling away with a red pen. I loved seeing the teacher side of him because it was one of his true passions in life.

"Aria, do- were you staring at me?" He looked up from his paper to see me watching him.

"Guilty." I laughed, as I focused on my homework once again.

"No, wait. Come here." He motioned for me to come over. I set my computer onto the couch as I walked over to the table. "Does this sentence make any sense? There's something wrong with it, but I can't tell what." He underlined the sentence in the students' paper with his red pen, watching me as I read the paper.

"That makes no sense. It just sounds weird." I traced over the sentence with my pointer finger.

"Yeah, but what is it that makes it incorrect?" He tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

"Ezra, you're the teacher, not me. You're asking the wrong person, honey." I told him, as I walked back over to the couch to pick up my laptop again. However, as soon as I bent over to grab it, I felt a sharp pain radiate throughout my body. I gasped, and instinctively put my hands over my stomach.

Ezra saw the look of immense pain on my face and jumped up from his chair and rushed over to me.

"Aria, are you okay?" He managed to say.

"I just… have a bad stomachache all of a sudden." I whispered. "I'm going to go to the bathroom." I said quietly, as I slowly walked over to the bathroom. Each step I took sent more pain throughout my body. I turned around to see Ezra following me, with a cautious and worried look on his face.

"Are you sure it's not just the baby kicking?" He suggested, hoping that the situation was not as bad as it actually was.

I shook my head.

"No way. That doesn't hurt like this." I walked into the bathroom and glanced at myself in the mirror. I was as white as a ghost, sweating bullets, and my cheeks were flushed.

"Ezra." I breathed, cringing in pain and holding my hands over my stomach. I rushed over to the toilet and bent over it, ready to throw up.

"Aria, breathe. What's going on?" Ezra rushed over to me and started rubbing my back in a soothing motion.

All of a sudden, I felt a sticky fluid run down my legs. Looking down, I let out a loud gasp as I realized what had just happened: my water had broken.

"Oh my God." I quickly pulled my dress off my body and examined my stomach, which was now half the size it had been five minutes ago.

"The baby, the baby! Oh God, Ezra, it's too early!" I screamed frantically. "They still have fourteen more weeks to go!"

"Oh my God." Ezra whispered.

"Ezra." I begged, as tears begun streaming down my face.

"Aria, we're getting you to the hospital _now_."

I tried to control my rapid breathing by taking deep breaths. I closed my eyes as Ezra ran from the room.

_Breathe. In and out, Aria. In and out._ I kept telling myself, as I sat on the edge of the bathtub. I sat there cringing in pain, with my arms folded around my stomach, as tears streamed down my face.

Ezra appeared in the bathroom a moment later with a small duffel bag in his hand that I assumed was full of clothes and such. He handed me one of my dresses he had brought from the closet for me to change into.

He helped me slowly lift my wet dress over my head to change out of it. Afterwards, he helped me slide on the dress he had brought me.

"Can you walk?" He reached a hand out to help me stand up.

I took it, but as soon as I stood up straight, another shot of pain circulated throughout my body. I shook my head as I continued to cry.

"It hurts, I can't do it." I sobbed.

Ezra picked me up and held me in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and moved my body so I was in a comfortable position. We left the house and Ezra set me down carefully into the passenger seat of our car.

I could not help but notice the nervous glances Ezra kept throwing at me during the car ride. But I could not blame him. If I was Ezra, and my girlfriends' water broke with fourteen weeks left of the pregnancy, I would be a nervous wreck too.

I silently prayed that everything would be okay with our baby. Aren't babies born early more prone to having problems when they are born? I continued crying waterfalls as I prayed that my baby would be healthy and alive.

The ride to the hospital was quiet and quick. Ezra's hand was in mine the whole ride there and my other arm was wrapped around my stomach in a protective manner. He was trying his hardest to help ease the pain I was experiencing in any possible way.

I closed my eyes as he asked me for the umpteenth time if I needed anything or if there was anything he could do for me.

"Just get me to the hospital," was the only sentence I was able to mutter under my breath.

When we made our way through the hospitals' big blue doors, Ezra ran to the reception counter and started talking frantically to the lady that was sitting there.

"Mywifes'waterbrokeandshe'sonlytwentysixweeksalong!"

Somehow, the woman was able to understand his gibberish, and quickly grabbed a wheelchair that was nearby. She saw me, holding my back and standing crooked, with a pained expression on my face, and she rushed over to me and helped me sit down in the wheelchair.

Ezra conversed with another woman for a moment, before the second woman led us both to an empty room.

After some introductions, she quickly got down into the dirty business.

"So you've told me that there has been no signs of contractions?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

I nodded in response and wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Since your water broke, there is a good chance that you will go into labor within the next twenty-four hours. We are going to need to take an ultrasound on the baby. You are only twenty-six weeks along, so we are going to try and prolong the baby staying inside of you for as long as possible. The baby's lungs are not fully developed yet at this stage of your pregnancy, so if the baby is born, they are going to have trouble breathing. Also, I'm sorry to tell you this, but it is vital that I do… If the baby is born now, there is only…" She paused for a moment. "There is only a ten percent chance of the baby living." She finished sadly.

I looked at Ezra and saw the fear in my eyes reflected in his. He grabbed my hand as the doctor said these words, and held it tightly in his. I closed my eyes as more tears rapidly fell down my cheeks.

"It's going to be okay, Aria. The baby is going to be okay." He whispered to me. I could not figure out whom he was trying to convince more, him or me.

"So right now, I am going to take an ultrasound." She told us, as she started wheeling me into another room.

"Do you know the sex of the baby?" She asked me, as she put some latex gloves on.

Ezra and I shook our heads in response.

"We scheduled another appointment next week to find out. At first, we wanted it to be a surprise, but we changed our minds." He told her as he was looking at me.

She nodded in understanding. "I'm so sorry that you have to go through this. And you're a young couple. I'm assuming this is your first?" She asked.

Ezra and I nodded at the same time.

"So this might be a little cold." She told me, as she rubbed a pink gel all over my stomach.

Ezra held my hand as the doctor traced over my stomach with the ultrasound wand.

I looked up at the screen to see my baby. He or she was so little!

"Are you sure you don't want to know the sex? It's your last chance." The doctor smiled.

"Yeah." I nodded. "There's a fifty percent chance that they will be a boy… So those are pretty good odds." I let out a quiet laugh for the first time that night, as I looked at Ezra.

"But there's also a fifty percent chance that they will be a girl." He winked at me. "Those are pretty good odds too."

My breath was taken away once again as the baby was portrayed on the screen in front of me. I felt my eyes welling up with tears at the sight of them. It seemed that every time I saw my baby in front of me was more powerful than the last.

"The baby is currently one and two thirds pounds, and from head to toe is fourteen inches. There's the baby's face." The doctor pointed at a spot on the screen. "If you look closely, you can see them blinking."

"I can feel them kicking too." I moaned. "The kicking hasn't stopped since my water broke."

"And it will not until the baby is born. They realize that something is wrong and that their environment has changed. Your fluid level is also going down." She told us. "I think your baby is going to be born soon."

"But I have not had any contractions yet." I told her, confused.

"That's good because, like I said earlier, we want to postpone the baby's birth for as long as possible."

We went over a few more things together before she led me back to my hospital room via wheelchair. I looked up at Ezra, who had been watching me.

"Ezra?" I asked.

"Hmm?" He turned to me. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Um, I just… remembered something from earlier… You called me your wife?" I gave him a small smile.

"Oh, well um." He said uneasily, as he rubbed the back of his neck; a nervous habit of his. "Well, it, uh, kind of just, uh, came out." He stammered. "And besides… won't you be mine, soon enough?" He winked at me and I felt my cheeks blush. I wish I knew how he still had this kind of effect on me. I reached out my hand to take his hand in mine.

As we entered my hospital room, we were suddenly bombarded with loads of people who had many persisting questions.

Looking around the crowded room, I saw my parents, Mike, Hanna, Caleb, Spencer, Toby, Emily, and Samara.

"Aria, honey, are you okay?"

"Is the baby okay?"

"What happened?"

"Aria, how are you feeling?"

"Aria, do you need us to do anything for you?"

"Hey! Give her two seconds to breathe!" Ezra scolded them all.

"Thanks." I smiled gratefully at him. "My water broke around two and a half hours ago. The baby is one and two thirds pounds right now, but their lungs are still developing. The doctors are trying to prolong me going into labor for as long as possible, so I doubt that it is going to happen any time soon. Sorry to make you all rush to the hospital." I gave them all an apologetic smile.

A doctor came into the room a few moments later and told us that visiting hours were over except for my immediate family. This statement earned a loud groan from all of my friends.

"We're practically family." Hanna wined.

"Sorry, that's the rule." The doctor told her sympathetically.

I was given a bunch of hugs as everyone said their good-bye's.

"Aria, we'll see you first thing tomorrow morning! Call us if anything happens!" Spencer waved good-bye to Ezra and I as everyone left the room.

After everyone had left, the only people remaining in the room were Ezra, Ella, Byron, Mike and I.

"You guys should go home." I let out a huge yawn. The day's events were really taking a toll on me and the lack of sleep I had been getting lately did not help with my pregnancy in any way.

"Are you sure?" Byron asked, as he sat down next to me on the edge of my white hospital bed.

"Yeah, but mom? Can you stay here tonight? Just in case anything happens." I nervously fiddled with the blue hospital bracelet on my wrist, feeling like a little kid asking their mother for help.

"Of course honey." Ella told me, as she sat down in one of the chairs next to my bed.

Ezra, who had been sitting on the edge of my bed on the side opposite to my dad, got up to say good-bye to Mike and Byron.

"We'll see you tomorrow." Byron gave me a kiss on my forehead, before he and Mike left the room.

A peaceful silence filled the room after their departure.

I suddenly sat up quickly, letting out a loud gasp.

"What's wrong?" Ezra and Ella both exclaimed at the same time, as they both jumped up from where they were sitting.

"Nothing." I moaned. "This baby just won't stop kicking. And it's so freaking painful!"

"Honey, it's just going to get harder from here." Ella told me, taking hold of my hand.

I let out a sigh, before leaning back against my pillow.

I closed my eyes for a moment, before I heard my mom speak again.

"I'm going to go home for a minute to get a change of clothes. Do you want me to stop at your house and get you guys anything?"

"I'm fine. Ezra, do you need anything?" I asked, intertwining our fingers together.

"Nope, I'm good." He replied, giving my mom a smile.

"I'll see you soon." She came over to me and gave me a kiss on the forehead too, before going over to Ezra and giving him a hug.

"Bye mom!" I called, as she left the room.

I turned to Ezra after my mom left the room. He was watching me with a small smile on his lips.

"How are you feeling?" He sat back down on the edge of the bed as he took my hand in his.

"Exhausted." I sighed.

"You need to rest." He told me, before leaning over to me to give me a kiss. I kissed him back for a moment, before pulling away.

"I love you." I said softly, as I grazed his cheek with my fingertips.

"I love you too." He said quietly. He put his hand over my stomach and spoke again. "And that's why you need to rest, so that everything goes well with the baby."

"Ezra… The baby's going to be okay, right?" My voice shook as I asked the question. He looked into my eyes and I knew that he could see the fear that was evident in them.

"Yeah. They are going to be okay. The doctor's are going to do everything they can, and the baby's going to be okay." He told me, as he pushed a strand of hair away from my face and behind my ear.

"Now rest." He said sternly. He kissed my cheek before sitting back down onto the chair beside my bed.

I smiled at him before settling back against the white pillow in the hospital bed. I closed my eyes and soon fell into a peaceful slumber.

**And so the baby drama begins. Thank you so much for all your reviews and suggestions for the name of the baby, please keep them coming! I haven't been able to choose one because I like so many of them! Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter, and PLEASE REVIEW! **


	26. Chapter 26

**Thank you so much for all of your reviews. A certain gender won by a lot over the other gender. The one that won is the sex of the baby. The first and middle name of the baby is dedicated to Ezriafan17, Holly, Kasey, and nightmares,and,dreamers. **

Ezra's POV

As the hours passed by, I still struggled to get a grip on the reality of what was happening. I was told that Aria could go into labor at any moment. I was told that if our baby were born now, he or she would only have a ten percent chance of living. That is what scared me the most. Even though Aria and I were still young, we knew that we could work this all out. Ever since she dropped the news to me that she was pregnant, I have never been happier. Although our lives were moving at a much faster pace than we originally had planned, we both were excited for this baby. But then again, when has anything in my life that involves Aria ever turned out as planned? We never expected to connect with each other the way that we have. We never expected to fall in love so hard with each other. We never expected to end up having a secret relationship with each other while I worked at Rosewood. And while I was in college, studying for my English Literature major, I never in my wildest dreams expected that I would end up falling this hard in love for one of my future students.

I never fully understood the whole, forbidden love concept, until I saw Aria sitting in my first period English class on my first day at Rosewood. And since then, so much has happened to the two of us. Look where we are now. Sitting in a hospital, waiting for Aria to give birth to our premature baby. I felt fresh, hot, tears escape my eyes, as I thought about Aria and our baby. It was just too early and we could easily lose the baby. As much as I did not want to face that reality, I knew that I had to because it was a very true possibility. And there was nothing I could do about it, except have faith that fate will settle in and make everything all right in the end.

Why did this have to happen? I had heard some stories in the past, about premature babies who were perfectly fine after birth. And the ones that had some complications usually became healthy again after a week or two in the hospital. However, that thought did not help relieve my anxiety at all, because there was one very big and important difference between those babies, and mine and Aria's baby: time. Aria is only twenty-six weeks along in her pregnancy. All the stories I have heard were about women who were thirty-two or more weeks along.

I finally realized the immense importance of time; how much control that one simple thing had on our baby's life. How that one simple thing was going to change Aria's life and mine forever, for better or for worse. The fate of our baby depended on time. The baby couldn't be born now, they just couldn't. More tears escaped my eyes as I thought about it. There was no possible way that the baby could be born now and still be healthy. There were just too many things that could go wrong. The doctors were trying to prolong our baby staying inside of Aria for as long as possible, but there was really only so much that they could do. Our baby's lungs were not fully developed at this point, so I knew that if our baby were born now, he or she would have trouble breathing.

Despite all of the depressing thoughts running through my head, I had to admit, I could not wait to hold my little son or daughter in my arms. Part me and part Aria. I secretly wished that we would have a girl. I had no way to explain all of the feelings that enveloped me whenever I spent time with Maria, before I knew the truth about her. Besides the initial cruelness of keeping my daughter away from me, I have to confess, that I was happy that Jackie told me about her, instead of keeping her from me forever. But in the end, it all turned out to be a lie. A cruel, twisted, messed up, lie.

"Ezra!" I heard an all too familiar voice exclaim. I looked up to see none other than my old college friend, Hardy, walking towards me.

Aria's POV

I woke up the next morning with the most painful cramps I have ever had in my life. I groaned as I opened my eyes. I immediately looked around the room in search of Ezra, but the only person I saw was my mother.

"Ezra's outside." Her motherly instinct must have made her easily realize that I was looking for Ezra. "He's talking to one of his friends. I think he said his name is… Hardy?" She said uncertainly.

"Hardy's here?" I laughed. However, laughing was a very bad move on my part because another shot of pain radiated throughout my body.

"You know him?" She raised her eyebrows at me.

"I met him a while ago." I confessed. I shifted my body to more comfortable position in the bed. Moving did not help at all. I whimpered in pain because my body was hurting so badly. Tears quickly escaped my eyes and started falling rapidly down my cheeks, as the pain got worse.

Ella immediately noticed and pressed a button beside my bed to call for a doctor. The pain was quickly escalating and becoming unbearable. A doctor burst into the room a moment later and started asking questions, but not before introducing herself as Dr. White.

"Where does it hurt?" She asked me. I showed her and she looked up at one of the machines I was connected to, that was situated above my bed. She told me that it was supposed to detect contractions, but it was not showing anything. Ella stood next to me, holding my hand. I kept squeezing it every time the pain got worse. Another doctor entered the room a second later and started conversing with Dr. White. Ezra burst in right afterwards, with a tense and worried look on his face.

"Ezra." I whispered. He rushed over to me and took hold of my other hand.

"What's going on?" Ezra asked the doctor's frantically.

"Hmm." Dr. White mused. "You're showing all the signs that you are about to go into labor."

"But the machine is not picking up any contractions." The other doctor chimed as she walked over to me. "I'm Dr. Casey." She introduced herself.

"And?" Ezra asked, nervously. I started crying even harder because the pain was so bad. I knew that this was it. I had never felt pain like this before. I already knew, that without painkillers, contractions and childbirth were a very painful part of life.

Dr. White glanced at me and then looked up at the machine again.

"You know what, I think this baby is coming now." She walked over to the other side of the room and grabbed a medicine bottle from a cabinet.

I silently thanked God that she believed me about the pain I was in. Damn that machine for not telling the truth!

"Painkillers." Dr. White explained, as she handed me two pills. I took them and miraculously, the pain immediately lessened.

Ezra and my mother were both standing beside my bed towards where my head was on the pillow. I looked up at Ezra, who had worry etched all over his face. The look he was giving me, told me that he wished so much that he could just take all the pain away.

"Push." Dr. Casey commanded.

A few moments later, our beautiful daughter was born. Dr. White held her up in front of us and I felt more tears escape my eyes. She was so small, like a newborn puppy. Ezra and I squeezed each other's hand when we saw her. She was breathtakingly beautiful. She had Ezra's luscious curly locks, and my eyes.

"What's her name?" Dr. White asked, still holding our little baby in her arms.

"Lucille Marie Fitz." Ezra and I whispered in sync.

"Lucy for short." Ezra explained. We had decided names for the baby two weeks ago, for either a boy or a girl. I was thankful that we chose a name early, or else there would have been many arguments between my family and friends on what to name our baby.

Dr. White moved closer to Ezra and I, and I held out my arms to take my baby in them, but the doctor moved away.

"We need to examine her." Dr. White explained, as she took Lucy to the other side of the room. I did not know how I felt at that moment, because I had just had my baby, and the doctors took her away from me.

Ezra and I faintly heard her cry as they took our baby away.

"Did you hear that?" Ezra said quietly. "She cried, that means her lungs are developed good."

I really hoped he was right. The doctors we had spoken to yesterday had told me that her lungs would not be fully developed because at this stage in my pregnancy, her lungs were still growing.

They brought Lucy back a moment later and I immediately took her in my arms. She was wrapped in a pink blanket and had a little pink hat on her head. I gasped as soon as the doctor handed her to me. I looked at the doctor in front of me and he was quick to explain.

"The tube in her mouth goes down to her lungs to help her to breathe." He told us. I stroked Lucy's cheek with my thumb and looked up at Ezra. He had a longing look in his eyes and I could tell he wanted to hold her.

"She's two pounds and three ounces and she's fourteen inches long." Dr. White told us.

"She's beautiful." Ella choked out, watching Lucy. I looked up at my mom, whose eyes were also a little wet. Ella left the room for a moment and came back with Mike and Byron walking behind her. They smiled at me, before I looked back over at Ezra and Lucy.

Lucy was so light and the size of a doll. If I really wanted to, I could dress her in doll clothes, just because she would easily fit into them.

"She has your eyes." Ezra whispered, in awe over our baby. Lucy's big brown eyes were fixated on Ezra. I smiled a little as I watched Ezra and Lucy. I knew that Lucy would end up being the biggest Daddy's girl. From the loving look Ezra was giving her right now, I knew that Lucy already had Ezra wrapped around her little finger. I could not get over how small Lucy was; almost the same size as Ezra's hand. I had to admit, that the fact that she was so small scared me a little bit. Ezra's expression suddenly frowned as Lucy started squirming in his arms.

A machine suddenly started beeping violently, causing Ezra and I to panic.

"What's going on?" We exclaimed together. I looked nervously at the doctors, my eyes demanding an answer from them, _ now._

Dr. White took Lucy from Ezra's arms and moved the blanket away from her body. She put her hand lightly against Lucy's chest and said, "Her breathing is getting slower. She cannot stay in this unit. She needs to be incubated and we need to take her to the NICU."

"What is that?" I looked at Ezra, in fear that it was a very bad place.

"The neonatal intensive care unit." She explained. "Or the Special Care Nursery. They specialize in the care of ill or premature newborn infants."

Both Ezra and I had tears pouring down our faces again as they took our baby away from us, for the second time that day. Ezra and I longingly watched the doctors as they left the room with Lucy. Ezra sat down next to me in the bed and he put his arms around me. I buried my head against his chest and sobbed into his now tear stained shirt. I felt his tears fall onto the top of my head. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and he wrapped his around my waist, the best he could, since we were both sitting on the bed. He hugged me harder as gasps begun to escape my lips.

I already had known that not everything would end up going perfect with Lucy's birth, since it was so early, but I did not know that it would end up being like this!

Byron had his arm wrapped around Ella's waist and Ella had her arm wrapped around Mike's shoulders. Ella had tears streaming silently down her face, as she watched Ezra and I.

Byron came over to Ezra and I, and I quickly switched my embrace from Ezra to Byron.

"Daddy." I whispered as he held me in his arms while I buried my head into his collarbone and cried. Ella removed her arm from around Mike's shoulders and went over to Ezra. Ella embraced Ezra in a motherly manner, and Ezra did not protest. Mike sat down in one of the chairs near the windowsill and watched Ezra, Ella, Byron, and I with a pained expression on his face. He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes.

A moment later, a mob of people burst into our room. I lifted my head from Byron's chest to look around the room. He tightened his arms around me as I saw Emily, Hanna, Spencer, Hardy, and to my surprise, Jackie and Maria.

"How's the baby?" Emily questioned.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Hanna interrogated.

"What's their name?" Hardy asked.

"Can she be my sister?" Maria asked innocently.

"Wait!" Spencer exclaimed, her eyes darting back and forth across the room. "Where is the baby? And _ why _ are you all crying?"

"Oh my God," Emily's face became as white as a ghost. "Please, Aria, please, do not tell me that the baby was a stillborn." Tears started forming in her eyes as she spoke.

I shook my head in response, but tears continued to fall from my eyes.

"No, no, no." Ezra looked up at them all, causing Ella to remove her arms from around him. "The baby's alive. But she can't breathe on her own..." He said slowly, as if what he was saying was registering with him for the first time. "They took her up to the NICU." Ezra explained. Hardy came over to Ezra and gave him a pat on the back.

"She's a girl?" Spencer asked softly, as she gave me a small smile.

I nodded in response. Spencer came over to me and hugged me tightly.

"What's her name?" Hanna asked, as she set the huge teddy bear in her hands next to my bed.

"Lucille Marie Fitz." I said.

"Fitz?" Hanna shrieked. Her eyes then quickly moved away from my face to my hand, in search of a ring. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers as soon as she found one.

"YOU GOT MARRIED AND DIDN'T EVEN TELL US? HOW COULD YOU _NOT_ INVITE ME TO THE WEDDING?" Hanna yelled, throwing her hands into the air, and almost hitting Emily in the face.

Her statement did not even earn a chuckle from Ezra or I, because we were just too depressed. Everyone started laughing, however the laughter in the room quickly subsided as soon as they all realized that Ezra and I were not laughing.

"No, Hanna." I sighed. "It's just a promise ring."

We heard a door open and close and we all looked over to the doorway, to see Dr. White standing there with a clipboard in hand. The room fell silent as everyone turned towards Dr. White. The anxiety and sadness in the room that we were all feeling was so thick, that one could easily cut it with a knife.

"We moved her to the NICU and Lucy is being incubated as we speak. Hopefully her breathing will become regular again."

"Hopefully?" I whispered, as tears started forming in my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Ezra quickly sat down next to me on the bed and wrapped his arms tightly around me.

"I'm sorry." She said sympathetically. "But you can visit her later today if you'd like."

Ezra and I nodded in agreement, before the doctor left the room.

A shrill ringing of phones in synchronization suddenly broke the silence. I felt Ezra's body tense against mine at the sound; as he quickly realized whom the message was from, because the sender was able to send the message to four different people at once. We all turned our heads towards Spencer, who slowly lifted her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. I started crying harder, not two seconds later, because I knew _exactly _ who that incoming message was from. I did not even bother retrieving my phone from my purse, but instead buried myself deeper into Ezra's embrace.

"Hold me, please." I whispered desperately to Ezra. He hugged me tightly against his chest and pressed a kiss against my hairline.

"Emily, Hanna, we should go." Spencer said quickly. "We have _ A _problem." She emphasized the single letter. I lifted my head from Ezra's chest to see fear written all over Spencer's face.

"Bye Ezra, bye Aria, we'll see you soon. Hope everything's goes okay." Spencer said quickly, as she gave Ezra and I a hug. Hanna and Emily did the same, before they all quickly fled from the room.

"Is it just me, or was that weird?" Hardy asked no one in particular.

I looked up at Ezra and we shared a knowing look with each other, full of fear. We had to get everyone out of this room soon so we could talk to the girls alone, soon. And I needed my phone, so I could see what that text said. It must have been bad, if it caused all the girls to leave.

"It's getting late, you guys should leave soon." Ezra told Jackie and Hardy.

They all looked over at me and I nodded in agreement with Ezra's request. I glanced at my family. Mike and Byron were submerged in conversation with each other, while my mother was looking at me skeptically.

"Um, okay." Jackie muttered. "We'll see you guys soon. Hope the baby's okay."

I smiled in thanks as she and Maria left the room.

"Aria, can I see your phone? I left mine in the car." Ella asked me.

"Sure." I shrugged, without thinking. Ezra was looking at me with wide eyes, realizing something that I was not. Ella took my phone out of my purse and suddenly the fact that A had just sent me a text and my phone was in my mothers' hands registered in my brain.

"Wait, mom!" I snatched my phone from her hands and quickly erased the message, without even opening it. I had to ask the girls later about what it said.

I handed my phone back to her as innocently as I could. She looked at me suspiciously; obviously knowing that something was up.

I laid back against the pillows of my bed and sighed. I really needed to know what that message said.

"We should get going. Aria needs to rest." Byron came up behind Ella and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Okay." She agreed. Ezra and I took turns getting hugs from my family, and Ella gave me my phone back, before my family left the room.

"That message was from A, wasn't it?" Ezra sat beside me on the bed and took my hands in his.

"Yeah." I said quietly. "I didn't read it though. I deleted it before my mom could see it."

"I think she knows something is going on. Because four phones ringing simultaneously that belong to best friends, just is not normal." He commented.

"I know. But I can't tell them about A. I wasn't even supposed to tell _ you. _ I'm actually surprised A hasn't done anything to us yet because I told you about them."

I took a deep breath as I looked into Ezra's eyes. I could tell he was feeling the exact same emotions as I was: uneasiness about A, worry and sadness about Lucy, but a spark of happiness that Lucy was born and alive.

"Do you want to go see Lucy? The doctors said we could." Ezra tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. He moved his hand from my ear to trace the redness all around my eyes; caused from crying so much today and yesterday.

I nodded. I pulled the covers off of me and stood up from the bed. I took his hand in mine.

"Aria?"

I turned towards him questioningly and looked into his eyes. He put two fingers on my chin and lifted it up so my lips could meet his. His lips were so soft against mine. We stood there kissing for a moment, before we finally broke apart. I rested my forehead against his, before whispering, "I love you," to him.

"I love you too, Aria." He took my hand in his once again as he led us out of the room.

"Let's go see our baby."

**Well that was an intense chapter, wasn't it? So I made the baby a girl, and I named her Lucy in a reference to Lucy Hale. What did you guys think? Hope you liked it, and PLEASE REVIEW! **


	27. Chapter 27

**Thank you so much for your reviews: SolitudeMyLove, CaTlover1Smokey, MzPink4, ilovvmusic22, UndRestimated42, Television Lover, msbookworm93, Ezriafan17, EzriaLoverx3, HarrylovesGinny09, Blueberry Roses, steph12pll, Iceyhearted, EzraandAriaForever, .BeyondConfused, Lalala17, and nightmares,and,dreamers. Hope you guys like this chapter! **

Aria's POV 

As I stuck my hand through one of the big holes on the side of Lucy's incubator, her own little fingers met mine and curled around my index finger.

"We have only been feeding her sugar water, for the time being." Dr. White told us. "I don't think she could have handled milk up to this point."

"Is that… healthy?" Ezra asked her, uncertainly.

"Well it is all we can give her. We are not sure if she can tolerate anything else." She explained. "I do not know how long she is going to have to be in the incubator. We are just going to have to take it day by day until she is healthy enough to go home."

"How long do you think that will take?" I asked, my voice dripping with sadness.

"It could take weeks, or it could take months." Dr. White replied.

More tears fell down my face as I looked at Lucy again. She had wires taped in so many different places on her chest to monitor her heart rate, her breathing, and more. Her big brown eyes, however, were wide open and staring at me, as if she was trying to memorize my face. The tape on her face that held the tube in her nose to help her breathe was stuck on her in such a way that she had a hard time making facial expressions. For having so many wires and tubes attached to her, she was staying surprisingly quiet. We had only heard her cry once and that was the moment she was born.

I turned to Ezra, who was watching Lucy with just as much love and pain reflected in his eyes.

"I wish I could just take all her pain away. That has to hurt so badly, being secluded in an incubator with wires and tubes all over her." I said softly.

Ezra wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close to him. I deeply admired his strength right now, because I had no idea how he had been able to hold all his emotions in. I had already broken down into crying fits multiple times but Ezra has only shed a few tears. The past few days had been so hard on everyone. My parents and friends tried not to show it, but I knew that they had a hard time seeing Ezra and I in so much pain. I was only a teenager, and all this had to happen to my baby.

I had been released from the hospital the day after Lucy was born and Ezra and I were only allowed to see her during visiting hours. It was so sad and frustrating to have to leave her when the hours were over. I felt so guilty going home with Ezra every day and leaving her in the hospital, a place full of strangers with no one she really knew.

It has been exactly fifteen days since I gave birth to Lucy, and things had only gone downhill from there. About a week after she was born, she was one pound and fifteen ounces, meaning she had started losing weight. That was the complete opposite of what Ezra and I wanted to happen, because she already weighed so little. It made me start to wonder if these doctors really knew what they were doing. Don't they know the dangers of newborns, especially preemies, losing weight? Dr. White seemed like a great doctor at first, but now I am honestly not so sure. We saw Lucy cry again on her one-week-old birthday, which was a good sign.

Ella, Byron, Mike, and the girls have been visiting us everyday. Toby, Caleb, and Samara had visited us a few times too, bringing flowers, chocolates, candy, and anything else they can think of to help us get through this.

"She can go home when she gains some more weight. Four pounds is the minimum weight we allow newborns to be when they can go home."

I stayed quiet as more tears slowly fell down my rosy cheeks.

"She's gained a little bit though. Currently," Dr. White flipped through some of the papers on the clipboard in her hand before speaking again. "She weighs a little over two pounds."

"Later tonight we are going to try feeding her milk and see how she takes it." Dr. Casey chimed into the conversation.

"That's good." I nodded. Giving her milk would help her gain weight, which is what needed to happen.

Dr. White glanced at her watch before looking up at us again.

"You have ten more minutes and then I have to send you home." She said sympathetically.

I slid my hand through one of the holes in Lucy's incubator and she grabbed my finger once again. I watched as she moved her legs up and down in anticipation. I moved some of her dark hair away from her face as I tucked it back into the little pink hat on her head. I could not wait to take my baby home.

…PLL…

"Aria, we need to stay strong. For Lucy's sake. You can't beat yourself up about this! It's nobody's fault!" Ezra tried to reason with me.

After we got home from the hospital, everything came crashing down upon me. It was all my fault. Everything that was happening to Lucy. There had to be a way I could have prevented this. There was something that I just was not careful enough with during my pregnancy. There had to be some reason why she was born premature.

"It's my fault." I cried out angrily. Why could he not understand that this was all my fault?

"I must have done _something _wrong during my pregnancy to make my water break!"

"No Aria! You did not do anything! There is no solid reason a woman's water breaks! Dr. White said it is mostly caused from brain signals from the fetus. There was no way you could have controlled that!"

Ezra was about to say something, before a knock on the front door interrupted him.

I made my way over to the door and opened it, greeted by Spencer, Hanna, and Emily. Emily and Hanna looked troubled, while Spencer had a look of pure frustration and irritation on her face. They all walked past me and into the living room where Ezra was, without saying a word.

"What's going on?" I asked them, as I closed the door behind them.

"Remember that text A sent us at the hospital?" Spencer asked as she sat down in an armchair by the fireplace and put her head in her hands.

I sat down next to Ezra and nodded. "I never read it through. I deleted it so Ella would not see it."

"Well, now's the time to read it. A sent the same text to all of us." Spencer reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She searched her phone for the text. Once she found it, she handed her phone to me.

I gasped, as I looked at the most recent text from A.

"**I wonder how the police will like these pictures? We'll find out soon enough. –A" **Attached to the text was two pictures. My fingers trembled against the phone as I clicked OK to open the attachments.

The pictures were both of Ezra and I. The first picture was of him and I kissing in his old classroom, and the second picture was of Ezra holding my hands in his in his old classroom. From the background of the pictures, one could clearly tell that we were at school.

I was speechless as I handed Spencer's phone over to Ezra so he could read the text and look at the pictures.

"Holy shit." I faintly heard him mutter under his breath.

"When?" I whispered.

"When what?" Emily furrowed her brows in confusion.

"When is A going to show these to the police?" I cried out desperately.

"Let's find out." Hanna said. She took Spencer's phone from Ezra and quickly sent back a reply.

"What did you just do?" Spencer asked.

"I asked this bitch when they were sending the pictures in." Hanna replied angrily.

We all waited in silence for A to respond.

"See what it says!" I cried as soon as her phone chimed with a new text.

"It says…" Spencer grabbed her phone from Hanna's hands and opened the new message. She read it, before slumping back against her chair in defeat. "It says 'That's for me to know and you to find out. –A' "

I groaned loudly. That definitely did not help at all.

"You guys really should have been more careful! Anyone could have seen you two kissing in your classroom and taken a picture, and A decided to do just that!"

"It does not matter anymore! Ezra can't get in trouble, he is not my teacher anymore and I am at the age of consent! And my parents approve-"

Spencer started shaking her head as soon as the words "Ezra can't get in trouble," came out of my mouth.

"Yes, yes he can. He committed a crime. It does not matter how long ago it was, or the fact that your relationship with each other is legal now, it was illegal at one point, and he still pursued it. And…. Ezra being the older one would get in trouble. Not you."

I shook my head at Spencer. This was not possible. This could not be happening right now.

"Aria, if I committed a murder five years ago, and they never found out that I was the one who did it until today, I would still go to jail! The amount of time that has passed does not change the fact that I committed a crime!" Spencer tried to get me to understand.

"No." I whispered. I turned to Ezra, who had immense fear written all over his face. I got up from the couch and slowly walked over to the window, looking outside, but not really seeing anything. How could A have so much power over us? Why did A want to ruin our lives so badly?

"We have to do something to stop A!" I suddenly exclaimed as I turned away from the window and faced them all.

"There's nothing you can do, Aria!" Spencer got up from the couch and walked over to where I was standing. "Except maybe change your names, flee the state, and never come back."

"Then we'll do just that!" I cried.

"No, we won't Aria! We can't!" Ezra also got up from the couch and walked over to me. He took my hands in his and tried to reason with me.

"Why not?" I yelled in frustration.

"Because our daughter is currently lying in an incubator at the Rosewood hospital, unable to breathe on her own! We can't leave her! Anywhere we go, she's going to!"

"Of course Ezra!" I exclaimed angrily, as I pulled my hands out of his. "Do you really think I would ever leave our daughter? You honestly think I would do something like that? Don't you know me better that that?" I cried, as tears started pouring down my face.

Does he really think that low of me? That I would actually leave my newborn daughter? I could never do something like that to her.

"I'm sorry Aria. I didn't mean that. I'm just… frustrated." He said quietly.

We both were overreacting. But that is exactly what A wants. They want to drive a wedge between Ezra and I. A wants to do everything in their power to hurt me in any possible way they can, starting with the two most important people to me; Ezra and Lucy.

"What if you guys pretend to break up? Stop seeing each other and make A think you have broken up. Then A will have no reason to send the pictures to the police. The only reason they are doing this now is to hurt you, Aria. No offense Ezra, but A could honestly care less about you if you had no connection to Aria. If you are not with Ezra anymore, than A has no reason to send these pictures in!" Emily exclaimed.

"It could work." Ezra shrugged.

"You guys are forgetting, A knows everything. A will know you are lying." Hanna reminded us.

"Not on my watch she won't." I muttered angrily under my breath.

"Wait, A's a girl?" Ezra asked, astonished.

"Um, we don't know. But honestly, what guy that we know would have the motivation to do something like this to us?" I asked the girls.

"Noel?" Ezra suggested. "He knew about us and he tried blackmailing me because he knew I was dating you."

"But that was something he only had against me." I said. "Not on all of us." I motioned towards the other girls. "Plus, A would not do something to us that would end up backfiring on themselves. When A put those midterm answers in Noel's locker, Noel got suspended. If Noel was A, he definitely would not have done that to himself."

"A did that?" Ezra exclaimed.

I nodded.

"I thought A is the bad guy." Ezra said slowly.

"He is." I paused. "She is. They is."

Ezra raised his eyebrows at me at my grammatical mistake.

"They are!" I exclaimed.

"That's what you get for dating an English teacher." Hanna smirked.

"So why would A do something nice for us? A saved our relationship by putting those midterm answers in Noel's locker." Ezra said.

"Whenever the bitch gives, she takes." Spencer snarled.

"Always?" Ezra asked, trying to find some sort of good side of A.

"Ezra, I got run over by a _ car _because I knew too much, remember? A thought I had seen them so she had to do something about it… Actually…" Hanna paused. "You were probably too busy making out with Aria to notice…"

I shot Hanna a nasty glare.

"But A did not do that Hanna. Noel did." Emily reminded her.

"Maybe Noel and A are working together? Have you ever considered A being more than one person?" Ezra raised his eyebrows at us.

I had to admit that it was a valid thought.

"But why would A get Noel suspended to save you and Ezra? I don't think A is that nice, considering Noel was going to get Ezra fired. If I was Noel and I was working with A, there would be no way that I would let A get me suspended." Spencer said.

"That is because you are Spencer Hastings. Noel probably had different motives, if he agreed to it." Emily said.

"Guys I honestly don't think Noel's working with A." Spencer shook her head. "I mean, he does not even talk to us at school anymore. He only really talked to you, Aria, if that."

"Can I see your texts from A again?" Ezra asked me.

I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and handed it to him. I watched him concentrate on my phone as he reread all the texts from A.

"Aria, look at this." Ezra motioned for me to come over and look at my phone. He showed me a text from A that was signed "-A" and another that was signed "-A."

"It could be two different people." He said.

A high-pitched trill suddenly sounded throughout the room. All of our faces drained of color as we recognized the sound of our four phones ringing in synchronization.

Emily slowly picked up her phone and opened the text. As soon as she read it, she let out the huge breath she had been holding.

"It's just my mom. She wants me to come home so we can have dinner together."

"Mine's Caleb. He said he misses me and wants to see me." Hanna blushed.

"Toby." Spencer shook her phone in her hand in front of us.

"We'll see you guys later then." I sighed as I watched them leave the house.

I turned to Ezra when I heard the front door close.

"What do we do now?" I asked him.

"You heard them. Maybe we need to pretend we've broken up to fool A so they will not send these pictures in." He scooted closer to me on the couch.

"No! I cannot lose you Ezra!" I exclaimed, as tears started pouring down my face. "I can't. I just can't."

"You are not going to!" Ezra wrapped his arms tightly around me as I cried into his chest. "I promise…" He whispered. "I promise to always be here for you and Lucy. A will never be able to tear us apart."

I lifted my head from his tear-stained shirt and looked into his eyes.

A cannot take Ezra away from me. No matter how hard they tried. I had too many people in my life that I love and need to protect. And A is not going to be able to do anything to stop me from doing just that.

A ringing interrupted my thoughts. I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and looked at the caller ID. It was Dr. White.

My heart rate suddenly sped up and my palms started to get sweaty. She never called Ezra or I unless something was wrong with Lucy. I looked up at Ezra, who was watching me, as I answered the call.

"Hello?" I answered, my voice shaking in fear of what she was going to tell me.

"Aria. I am sorry, but I have some bad news for you and Ezra."

My body started shaking in nervousness. I felt my eyes welling up with tears before Dr. White had even told me the news.

"We fed Lucy a little bit of milk earlier, but she could not handle it. We have moved her from the incubator to an isolette. We stopped the feedings but her stomach is swollen and extended. We think she has an infection."

My phone fell out of my hands as I broke down sobbing. Ezra rushed over to me and held me tightly. Tears rapidly streamed down my face as I buried myself into Ezra's embrace. This all had to happen just when I thought things could not get any worse. I started to wonder if there was any hope at all for Lucy and what she was going through.

**Hope you guys liked it and PLEASE REVIEW! Can we get to 400 reviews? Pretty please with a shirtless Ezra on top? **


	28. Chapter 28

**Whenever I went on fanfiction three weeks ago, I always chose 1 character for stories I wanted to read: Aria. I never had to choose a character B, because 9.9 stories out of 10 had Ezra as Aria's love interest. Now, I have to actually choose Ezra as a character B, because so many stories don't have Ezra as the character B. I get really depressed when I realize how many Jason and Aria stories are out there. Can't the authors see that Ezra and Aria are soulmates and that Jason is NOTHING compared to Ezra? It just bothers me that Ezria shippers are slowly turning into Arson shippers. (Arson? What kind of a name is that? Seriously?) And OMG if you haven't watched the Canadian and American promos for next week, then don't! And don't continue reading this note either, skip straight to the story. I don't even know how to express my feelings right now. I think that Aria does kiss Jason in the park, (UGH!) but I think that the part of him and her in bed kissing is a dream or her imagination because they're in Ezra's apartment. And the promo pic of her looking in the mirror and Jason looking with her is also in Ezra's apartment, so it's probably Ezra that's behind her but she is imagining Jason. UGH! How can she be thinking about Jason when she's about to have sex with EZRA FITZ? I just don't understand that girl. I really don't. Aria better tell Ezra that she kisses Jason, or else I'll be really mad. Sometimes I don't think that Aria deserves a boyfriend as sweet, passionate, and caring as Ezra. He really loves her and she cheats on him next week. Jason needs to go die in a hole. Like now. One with spikes and fire and murderers and A at the bottom. I feel like crying when I envision Aria with Jason and not Ezra. Anyway, sorry that was super long, but I just really needed to get that out. Hope you guys like this chapter, and please don't ever, ever, ever, give up on Ezria.**

**I'm sorry for any typo's. **

"You shouldn't have fed her milk then!" Ezra exclaimed angrily at Dr. White.

We had rushed to the hospital not even five minutes after the call with Dr. White had taken place, completely ignoring the fact that visiting hours were over. Tears poured down my face the whole car ride there. Ezra had been gripping the steering wheel on the ride there so hard, that his knuckles had been turning white in protest.

Dr. White looked down at the floor in shame.

"We thought she could handle it." Dr. Casey told us, as she glanced over at Lucy.

My phone rang loudly, interrupting the whole argument. I pulled it out of my purse and clicked talk.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Aria, it's me." Ella answered from the other line. "Do you and Ezra want to come over for dinner?" Ella asked.

"We're at the hospital."

"But visiting hours are over. Did something happen?" She asked, fear evident in her voice.

Tears poured down my face again as I handed my phone to Ezra, unable to talk anymore.

I looked back over at Lucy as tears continued streaming down my face. I hurt me so much seeing her in such a fragile state, yet I could not do anything about it.

"The doctor's fed Lucy milk, but she could not tolerate it. She has an infection and her stomach is swollen." Ezra repeated Dr. Whites' words from earlier into the phone.

"You don't have to, Ella." I heard Ezra say.

"Okay then." He paused. "We'll see you soon."

I looked up at Ezra, who had a distraught look on his face.

"Your parents are coming here. They want to see Lucy and then they want to take us out to dinner."

"I want to stay here!" I exclaimed, not caring that I was sounding like a child.

"Me too." Ezra nodded. "But maybe we should go. You need to eat something since you didn't even eat lunch today." He brushed his fingers across my lips.

"I just… Wish that we could take her with us." I said softly. Ezra came closer to me and enveloped me in a hug. I held onto his embrace tightly, not wanting him to let go. He softly placed a kiss to my hairline.

"Me too, Aria. Me too." He whispered into my hair.

...PLL...

"Aria, can I do your make up?" Ella asked, gesturing towards the shopping bag in her hand that she had brought with her to the hospital.

"Do I look that bad?" I asked, shocked.

She shook her head no.

"No, honey. You just look a little..." she paused, wracking her brain for the right words, but coming up empty.

"Yeah, you do." She confessed, smiling at me apologetically.

I let out a small laugh in response.

We made small talk as we walked towards the bathroom.

"I brought you a few dresses you left in your closet at our house that I thought you might like." Ella conversed. Together, we walked into the deserted ladies restroom.

Ella pulled three outfits out of the bag and held each of them up in front of me to choose.

I settled on the purple dress I had gotten on my last shopping trip with Hanna, and black heels. Ella used the curling iron she had brought to loosely curled my hair.

I closed my eyes as Ella applied eye shadow to my eyelids. Afterwards, she put on mascara, and eyeliner on me.

"It's nice to see that beautiful smile of yours again." Ella smiled at my reflection in the mirror.

"It's nice to feel pretty again." I said softly as I watched my reflection in the mirror.

"Aria, you're always pretty." I heard a deep voice say. I saw Ezra's reflection from the corner of my eye and quickly spun around.

"What are you doing in here?" I laughed, shocked. I never thought I would see Ezra in a ladies bathroom. "Ezra, you're going to get in trouble!"

"I came in here to tell you that your dad is ready to leave." He stuck his hands in his pockets as he started walking back towards the door.

"And we are the only people in this hospital except for the patients, nurses, and doctors... I trust you two that you won't rat me out?" He asked us innocently.

"Hmm. I don't know mom. What do you think?" I gave my mom a mischievous smile.

"We can call Byron right now to tell the people at the front desk." Ella held up her phone in her hand in front of Ezra, playing along.

All the color drained from Ezra's face and his hands started shaking nervously.

"A-Are you being serious right now?" He stuttered, his eyes continuously shifting back and forth from Ella to me.

Ella and I burst into a fit of laughter over Ezra's nervousness.

"I'm kidding." I assured him, laughing as I walked up to him.

I put my hands on his shoulders and immediately felt his body relax from my touch. I leaned up against him and gave him a peck on the lips, before he left the bathroom.

Ella and I exited the bathroom together a few moments later. I walked out with a new confidence.

"Can you do me a favor, Aria?" Ella stopped outside of Lucy's room and turned to me, with a worried look on her face.

"Hmm?" I was about to step into the room, but stopped.

"I've noticed…" She sighed and paused, looking me up and down. "I just want you to start taking more care of yourself. I know you've been worried about Lucy, but you need to focus on yourself too. Today's the first day since Lucy's birth that you've worn make up, done your hair, and even smiled. And have you been skipping meals? You look like you've lost so much weight." She said sympathetically.

I looked down at the floor. She was right. I had stopped taking care of myself like I used to, because I have been so worried about Lucy. I had not been eating regularly, and usually when I did eat, Ezra had to force me.

"You're still a teenager, Aria." She reminded me. "Just because you have had a baby, doesn't mean you have to give up your life completely… I just, I miss seeing you happy like you used to be."

"Mom…" I started, trying to find the right words to express what I was feeling. "I love Ezra. So much, that it sometimes it hurts. And I love Lucy. And having those two people in my life, despite all the hardships it has brought to me, has been the single greatest thing that has ever managed to happen to me. Meeting Ezra at Snookers was the best thing that has ever happened to me. And after Ali... That was what I needed. I mean, if Ezra had not turned out to be my teacher, I don't think we would have ever seen each other again. At first, it felt like a curse... our situation made us think that everyone and everything was against us being together... But in the end, it turned out all working for the better." I paused, as a flood of old memories washed over me: all of our forbidden kisses, the sexual tension we created in the classroom while we were still teacher and student, (if you haven't seen the deleted Ezria classroom scene from season 1 episode 3, go watch it now on YouTube, you'll love it. I can't believe they didn't include that scene!), the late nights spent at his apartment watching old movies, eating take-out, and cuddling against Ezra's chest, the first time we made love to each other, going to Philly for our first date, the first time I told him I loved him, the first time he told me he loved me, the time we took our first picture as a couple, the warm feeling I felt in my stomach when he wore the tie I bought him, and so many more memories.

"I love Ezra, mom. And I couldn't ask for anyone better." I was starting to get a little teary eyed, from the reminders of all my memories with Ezra.

"I know baby. I know. I'm glad you've found Ezra in your life. I couldn't ask for a better man for my little girl." Ella said, getting a little teary eyed herself.

"Now don't cry." She smiled. "You'll ruin your make-up."

...PLL...

After our dinner with my parents, Ezra and I headed back to the hospital. When we walked into Lucy's room, we were surprised to see that Dr. White was in there. Usually a nurse or other doctor was in the room watching Lucy when Ezra and I were not there.

"I-is there something wrong?" Ezra and I walked hand in hand over to Lucy's incubator. Lucy was awake and her big brown eyes were staring up at Ezra and I.

"The blood test results came back and Lucy's infection was caused by a cluster of bacteria… We gave her antibiotics a few minutes ago to kill it." Dr. White told Ezra and I. She set her clipboard down onto a table in the room and left for a moment. Out of sheer curiosity, I picked up the clipboard and started reading through the papers. There were records of Lucy's weight, which were taken every day, the amount of sugar water they had been feeding her, the amount of medicine they had been giving her, and more.

The second paper in the stack had a pink sticky note, telling Dr. White the amount of antibiotics Lucy should be given to kill the bacteria from the infection she had received from the breast milk. As I skimmed over the third paper, an unusually large number caught my eye. Lucy's recommended dosage of antibiotics was almost half the dosage amount that the doctor's recorded down of giving her on the third sheet in my hands.

A loud gasp escaped my lips as I realized what these numbers meant.

"Oh my God." I whispered, as I turned to Ezra, who was watching Lucy in the incubator intently. "Ezra, they overdosed her."

**I hope that you guys are not getting bored of my storyline of Lucy in the hospital. If you are, please let me know! Now, go watch the deleted scene I mentioned earlier if you haven't seen it already. Ezria fans need to keep faith. Ezria will be together in the end, and that's what counts. Aria is just going through a stage where she's acting stupid and letting the lust she feels towards Jason influence her love towards Ezra. Everything will be okay by episode 10, right? But... That's when Ella hears the rumor about Aria and Ezra. Can't wait! Hope you guys liked this and please review!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Pretty Little Liars really needs some more Ezria fluff. In every episode the couple has drama or an argument or something. Mostly it's useless drama that they could really go without. **

**Ezriaforlife: I'll stop watching if Ezra and Aria ever permanently break up. **

**Aria and Ezra Lover and HarrylovesGinny09: I like happy endings too. **

**Bite-me-im-irish: She really is. I don't like how the writers have changed her over the last season. I liked her character more in the beginning of the first season and in episodes 12, 13, 15, and 17. Now she's just getting kind of annoying. **

**PrettyLittleBethany: Ella hears a rumor then corners Aria about it. I dunno what happens afterwards, but I really hope her parents know by the finale. Yes! Can't wait for them to come out! (That means that they'll still be together) ;)**

**Television Lover: You'll see what happens… **

**Lalala17: I saw a video online of an interview with Lucy Hale and Lucy said she was shooting a scene with her mom about Ezra. **

**RosalineMarie: They aren't married haha but I promise more… couple time for lack of better phrase, will come soon. **

**Brynelise2: Me too. Me too. **

**Teamezria2: Thanks, I'm so glad you like it! I saw those too… I think that happens after she has that talk with her mom, because she looks freaked out. **

**: I hate shim too. **

**Msbookworm93: I saw it after I posted the chapter, so I didn't know about it when I wrote that author's note. That clip was… freaking amazing. Haha. **

**Alexa and Randomness 101-Fanfic Freak: Thanks! hahah**

**Iceyhearted: Exactly! I think next week the girls find out something about Jason… he's like stalking Aria or something? From the pictures of Aria in his shed it seems like he is? I hope they force Aria to stay away from Jason, therefore making her go back to Ezra. **

**I apologize for any typo's and I hope you guys like this chapter! **

"Happy birthday Lucy." Emily cooed, as she looked down at the newborn who was lying in the incubator.

Today was Lucy's three weeks old birthday. My parents had brought a cake to the hospital in celebration. The girls, Toby, Caleb, and Samara had come along also to celebrate.

"This is for Lucy from Spence and I." Toby handed me a present that was wrapped in shiny pink wrapping paper. **(I love Toby. He's such a sweetheart. My second favorite guy in PLL… After Ezra Fitz of course)**

"Thanks, Toby." I smiled, as Ezra took it from his hands and set it down in the corner of the room next to the presents from my Hanna, Caleb, Samara, and Emily.

"How are you doing, Aria?" Toby asked me.

I looked over at Lucy in the corner of the room before answering.

"Okay, I guess." I sighed. "I just… wish we could take her home. We've been in the hospital for so long… It's like… I just want to get out of here."

"Yeah." He nodded in understanding.

"How is Ezra doing?" He pondered.

"Why don't you go ask him? It seems like you two have formed some sort of bromance." I smiled as Toby walked away towards Ezra.

"Sweetie, we need to take you out. For a girls day." Hanna said. "You're an emotional mess. Physical too."

"I have a daughter." I said emotionlessly, reminding her that a teenage life full of shopping, crushing on cute boys, lounging by the pool in the summer, and spa days was no longer an option for me.

"So?" Spencer countered. "Just because you have a daughter, does not mean your life is over. We want to take you out. Our special treat."

"But what about Lucy? I can't just leave her."

To be honest, I was hoping to come up with an excuse. I felt so bad leaving Lucy alone that I could not bear to do it anymore than I actually had to. It pained both Ezra and I immensely to say good-bye to her at the end of every day.

"Your parents can look after her. We all know that there's an endless list of people who would be willing to watch her for a day." Emily said.

"You could get Jackie to watch her." Hanna smirked.

I looked at her with a look of pure disbelief on my face. She did not really mean that, did she?

They all looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to agree.

"Maybe." I finally answered. "I'm sure my parents or Ezra would not mind."

"Oh, actually…" Spencer started. "The boys want to take Ezra out too."

"What are they going to do?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"I don't know." Hanna shrugged. "Caleb won't tell me. I have been bugging him for the past two days about it, but he won't budge!" She folded her arms across her chest in frustration.

We all laughed at Hanna's annoyance, before walking back over to the other crowd of people.

….PLL…

I looked down at Lucy, who had a content look on her face. Her little legs moved up and down ever so slightly as she started waking up from her nap. Her eyes opened wide and her facial expression slowly changed into a smile. I felt my eyes begin to water at Lucy smiling at me.

"Hi sweetie." I whispered as I started tracing little patterns on the back of her hand. "I can't wait to take you home."

Ezra came up behind me and in a soothing manner, started running his hand up and down my back.

"Daddy can't wait either." Ezra stuck his hand in one of the holes on the other side of her incubator and Lucy immediately grabbed onto one of his fingers. She tightly wrapped her fingers around Ezra's pointer finger.

Lucy started putting her hands up to her face and kept feeling around her face. Her little fingers tried to grasp the breathing tube connected to her nose but kept failing.

"What is she doing?" Ezra questioned, watching her.

"I have no idea." I whispered, as I continued watching her. Lucy's fingers finally got a relatively good grip on the breathing tube. Ezra and I frowned as she struggled to pull it out of her nose.

"Why is she doing that?" I asked.

"Maybe it's uncomfortable and bothering her." Ezra scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion at Lucy's bizarre actions.

Ezra and I both gasped as we watched Lucy pull the breathing tube right off of her face. She clutched it tightly in her hand, waving it around wildly as if it were a prize she had just won.

"She's a cute baby." A voice behind us suddenly said, making Ezra and I both jump in surprise.

"Who are you?" Ezra asked, as he came face to face with a doctor in light blue scrubs.

"Sorry, I did not mean to startle you." He apologized. "I'm Dr. Matt Fisher, the neonatologist of the NICU. I was told you were having some problems with Dr. White, so I was assigned to be Lucy's new doctor." He smiled at us as he shook Ezra's hand.

"Do you have a history of overdosing newborns?" Ezra muttered under his breath.

"No." Dr. Fisher chuckled. "But we all make mistakes."

"There are some mistakes that can't afford to be made." Ezra paused. "She could have killed her."

"Ezra." I whimpered. I had to admit that I was a bit shocked that those words had just come out of Ezra's mouth.

"I understand, that overdosing newborns is a very severe issue, but I can assure you that it will not happen again."

"Okay." Ezra nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Thank you." I said to him. "Um, Lucy just pulled her breathing tube out of her nose. But she seems to be doing fine without it."

"She pulled it out herself?" He asked in disbelief.

Ezra nodded. "Is that… normal? What does that mean?"

"It means that she no longer needs it." He said pointedly, as he walked over to Lucy and looked at her inside the incubator. "Aria's right." He said after a few minutes. "Lucy seems to be breathing fine without it."

I turned to Ezra with a huge smile on my face.

"So her lungs are developed okay?" I asked eagerly. I could not believe it. Finally, something good happened to Lucy. If she was breathing on her own, that meant she could be taken out of the incubator!

The doctor put his stethoscope against Lucy's chest. He felt her pulse and measured her breathing.

"Her breathing is deep and regular, so if you want to, we can take her off of the incubator." Dr. Fisher said with a smile on his face.

"Definitely!" Ezra exclaimed. "If she can stay without being incubated, then definitely. Take her off of the incubator!"

"Right now, I need to weigh her again." Dr. Fisher said.

"He seems much better." I said quietly to Ezra, referring to the new doctor, as we watched Dr. Fisher take Lucy out of the room.

"This is such good news!" He smiled. For the first time in a long time, it was a genuine smile. "I'm sorry, Aria."

I looked at him, confused. What did he have to be sorry for? Everything was finally working out the way it was supposed to.

"I did not mean to be so mean earlier. I just… I just want her to be okay. I'm not sure if I can handle any more bad things happening to her. I just want to take her home."

I nodded as he wrapped his arms around me.

"I want us to be a family." He whispered in my ear.

"We are." I said simply. "And I can't wait for her to come home either."

We both turned towards the door as we heard footsteps coming towards us. Dr. Fisher appeared a moment later in the doorway with Lucy.

"She's two pounds and ten ounces, so she's gained about two ounces since yesterday, which is good." Dr. Fisher held her in his arms, watching Lucy with a smile on his face.

"Can I hold her?" I looked up at him hopefully.

Dr. Fisher nodded and handed Lucy to me. I could not explain the feelings that enveloped me at that moment. Lucy's big brown eyes stared into mine, and I struggled to tear my gaze away from her face. She was so beautiful. I pushed a small lock of her dark hair away from her eyes and smiled. I felt such a strong feeling of overwhelming love. Lucy was in my arms. My baby was finally out of the incubator and things were finally taking a turn for the better.

…PLL…

The moment we got home, I kicked off my shoes and went over to the couch. Ezra sat down beside me. Neither of us had said anything during the car ride home, because we both knew how the other was feeling without conveying the emotions out loud.

As I turned towards Ezra, he took me in his arms and I cuddled against his chest. His fingers stroked my hair, while I closed my eyes in bliss from his touch. We had been through so much with Lucy these past few weeks. I opened my eyes again and looked around the room. I could not explain the happiness I had felt when the doctor had told me that Lucy's breathing was deep and regular again. I could not wait until the day Ezra and I could bring her home. The day where she can sleep in the new crib we had bought her. The day she could drink milk from one of the pink bottles Hanna had picked out for her. The day Ezra and I could go out in public and show the world what a beautiful daughter we had.

I looked up at Ezra, who was looking down at me with a look of pure love in his eyes. We stared into each other's eyes for a moment, before I leaned up to kiss him. Our lips met in a gentle kiss. As I felt him about to pull away, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. He cupped my face in his hands as he deepened the kiss. Our bodies were pressed together as we continued kissing. It had been so long since Ezra and I had managed to have any alone time, between everything that happened with Jackie and everything Lucy has been going through. I pulled away slowly and gazed into his eyes.

"I miss you." I whispered, before attacking his lips again. He slid his tongue into my mouth and I kissed him harder.

"I miss you too." He said softly against my lips, before pressing his lips to mine again.

…PLL…

Ezra and I had worked on the nursery in our spare time when he was not busy with work or I with homework or when we were not at the hospital. The moments we spent in that room were bittersweet, knowing Lucy was here and alive, but not physically at the house, the place where she belonged.

As I got up from the couch after my heated make-out session with Ezra, I took hold of his hand as we walked into the nursery together. It saddened me a bit, knowing that Lucy was born; yet she had never seen this room before. I paused in the doorway as I looked around the bedroom. Presents were scattered all over the room.

"Who are all these from?" I walked into the room and bent down, looking at the tag on one of the gifts. It read: "Mike."

"This one is from Emily and Samara." Ezra motioned to one of the gift bags.

"You know, we never got to throw you a baby shower." Ezra said as he stood up straight.

"Well let's count this as it, because it seems like every family member I have, sent us a present for Lucy." I giggled.

"Oh my God." I laughed, flipping over the tag on one of the presents that was sitting next to me. "This one is from my Aunt Ruth."

"The one who got her cat stuffed when he died?" Ezra questioned.

I looked at him in disbelief.

"How in the world do you know that?" I was completely and utterly confused. How did Ezra know about Mugsy?

"You told me the first time you came over to my apartment for dinner." He tried to help me remember the story I had told him.

"The dinner that actually worked out? After you lectured me in class?" I smirked, finally remembering the moment.

He nodded in response as he moved closer to me so he could see the gift.

I pulled the tissue paper out of the bag and peered inside. I pulled out a little pink dress with flowers all over it.

"That's cute." Ezra smiled. "Wait, how did she know you had a baby? Have you talked to her?"

I shook my head. "I have not heard from her in almost a year. My parents must have told her…" I stuck my hand in the bag once again and pulled out a matching pink sweater and a little pair of gold shoes.

"They're so tiny." I gushed, holding the shoes up for Ezra to see. "She will look so adorable in these."

"Once she actually fits in them. She can't fit in regular one to three month old clothes." He folded the clothes and set them aside before handing me another present.

"She would be size negative three." I could not help but let out a giggle at the absurdity of the sizing chart.

"This one is from Hanna and Caleb." Ezra handed me a big box that had been set near the closet. I opened the flaps of the box to reveal a gift basket. Ezra pulled it out and set it in front of us.

"Wow." Ezra asked, shocked. Hanna had gone overboard, of course. The basket was almost as big as me and was artistically stuffed with little dresses, at least a dozen pairs of shoes, hair clips and headbands, a big teddy bear, socks with lace, little hats, bibs, pajama sets, and a big Juicy Couture diaper bag in the center that had a pink pillow in placed halfway inside it. The pillow read "Princess" in dark pink stitching with the Juicy Couture emblem above it.

"I think that this one will need the biggest thank you card." Ezra laughed, marveling over the huge gift basket.

I shook my head in response to his comment.

"What do you mean, no? You're not going to give her a thank you card?" He asked me, shocked. "She just gave you probably over nine hundred dollars worth of stuff for Lucy. I bet that almost everything that is inside of there is Juicy Couture."

"How do you know what Juicy is?" I asked in astonishment. Ezra did not seem the type to know his designers.

"Besides the fact that the pillow says, Juicy Couture, in big letters," He smirked. "I've spent so much time with Hanna since I got the job at Hollis, that she's taught me a lot about designers. Did you know that Ralph Lauren collects cars? Literally."

I shook my head in disbelief. Leave it to Hanna to teach a teacher about designers.

"She'll kill me if I give her a thank you card. What she really will want is to go on a shopping spree or have a spa day with her or something. She says that cards are for people who are too scared to say what they want to say to your face."

Ezra shook his head. "Have fun with that then."

"Oh, don't think that you're off the hook." I raised my eyebrows at him as I started tearing the purple wrapping paper off another present that was from Emily.

Ezra looked back at me with wide eyes, fear traced all over his pupils.

"Hanna is _ not _dragging me to go to a spa and on a shopping spree with the two of you." He folded his arms across his chest and looked away from me.

"I don't care what you say, but it's not going to happen."

I could not help but laugh at his stubbornness.

"Ez, I would never let her do that to you." I assured him as I held up the little dress Emily had bought Lucy. "Toby and Caleb want to spend a day with you; take you out somewhere." I shrugged as I set the dress aside.

"Where?"

"No idea. They won't tell anyone. Its bugging Hanna to death."

He nodded in understanding.

Maybe this was what we both needed; a day free of stress and worries. I had to admit that I missed Hanna, Spencer, and Emily. I have not been able to spend much time with them lately and when I got pregnant, our Friday sleepovers had been put on hold.

"We need to make a list of what everyone's getting us." Ezra pulled out his iPhone and started a note on it, describing each present from each person.

"And we need to thank everyone… but Hanna." He said.

"Exactly." I smiled. "Her thank you is a different thank you than everyone else's."

We spent the next hour opening presents from our friends and my family. To my surprise, Jackie had gotten Ezra and I a stroller for Lucy. I voiced my shock towards Ezra at the gift, but Ezra just shrugged it off, saying that she must be truly sorry for lying to us about Maria. Hardy had gotten Lucy a blanket and a stuffed animal and a little dress. I let out a small giggle at the thought of Hardy shopping for baby clothes in the little girl's section of a store. After Ezra and I had opened up all the gifts, I could not help but be very thankful for all the amazing friends and family I had. Even though I had gotten pregnant as a teenager, and I was in love with my ex-English teacher, I could not have asked for a better life.

**I tried to include less drama and more Aria and Ezra time/the fluff that I could come up with haha. I wish it were Tuesday… can't wait for 209. Hope you guys liked this chapter, and PLEASE REVIEW! **


	30. Chapter 30

**I have to admit it right now, I was MAJORLY disappointed with Tuesdays' episode. Don't get me wrong, the first scene in Ezra's office was freaking HOT, but the fact that the scenes at Ezra's apartment were DREAMS and then Ezra turns into JASON is just not okay. I was sooo looking forward 209, but all I get is a Jaria kiss? THANK GOD she pulled away and came to her senses. All the Ezria fans were so excited for 209, and in the end, it was all just dreams… **

**And Spencer jumps into Ezra's car next week, that's going to be a great scene because he doesn't know that the girls know about him and Aria! And I think Ella see's Spencer in Ezra's car and asks Aria about Ezra dating one of his students! So excited! **

**Also, I'm going to make Mike a good person in this story. No committing crimes, just the sweet loving brother we all thought he was before. Thanks for all of your reviews! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything except the plotline and Lucy. **

"If everything goes well, and Lucy does not get any more infections, she can come home in three weeks. She's allowed to leave once she is four pounds." Dr. Fisher told Ezra and I.

Ezra had his arms wrapped around me and I had my back against his chest. I twisted myself in his arms to look up at him. He had a huge smile on his face.

"Three more weeks, Aria." He whispered in my ear. "Three more weeks."

Three more weeks. Only twenty-one more days of Lucy having to be in the hospital. Granted, she had already been here for twenty-five days, but still. I silently prayed that everything would go well in those next few weeks. The doctor said that she could come home in three more weeks, as long as her health stayed the way it currently was, or got better.

But what if it got worse? What if something else happened to her? I shook my head to get rid of the thought. Nothing else was going to happen to her. Ezra and I were going to take Lucy home in three weeks, and life would go back to how it was supposed to be.

I felt a vibration in my pocket, caused by my ringing phone. I gently pushed Ezra's arms off of me as I reached into my pocket for my phone.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Aria." It was Mike.

"Mike, what's going on?" I asked nervously. I had just seen him earlier that day when the rest of my family had stopped by the hospital to see Lucy.

"Not much, I was wondering if you were going to be home tonight." He replied.

I looked at Ezra, who was staring at Lucy with a loving look in his eyes.

"Yeah, we'll be home after 8." I said into the phone.

"Can I come over?"

"Any particular reason?" I asked.

"Nah, I just want to see my sister and… brother in law? No. Sister's father of her baby? Boyfriend? Ugh, whatever the hell I'm supposed to call Ezra."

I laughed at his frustration.

"Sure, just give me a call before you get there. We'll see you later tonight, Mike." I hung up and turned to Ezra.

"Mike is coming over tonight." I said, as I stood next to Ezra and watched Lucy.

…PLL…

"Hey, Mike!" I greeted him at the door.

"How are you?" Ezra asked, as we all walked towards the kitchen.

"I've been good. Although it's been so weird since you moved out, mom and dad miss you a lot."

"Yeah well, if I still lived there, I doubt they would like having a baby in the house again." I smiled.

Mike grinned in response.

"Do you want something to drink?" Ezra asked Mike, as he opened the fridge.

"Water's fine." Mike sat down on one of the barstools at the island and placed his phone down on the granite counter. Ezra handed Mike a bottle of water before Mike started asking questions.

"When do you guys get to take Lucy home?" Mike asked, before taking a sip of his water.

"Three weeks." I smiled. I could not wait. "Hey, Mike, are you hungry? We just ordered a pizza." I asked.

"Yum!" He exclaimed. "Mom and dad are always trying to make me eat healthy food. I haven't had pizza in two weeks!" Mike made a face at our parents' decision. I knew that pizza was Mike's favorite food and that he could eat it every day if he was allowed.

Ezra chuckled at Mike's annoyance.

"How is school?" I grabbed a bottle of water for me and sat down in one of the barstools next to Mike. Ezra leaned against the kitchen counter on the other side of the island, watching Mike and I.

"Oh God, Ezra, you need to come back. The new English teacher sucks!" Mike exclaimed.

"Really?" I asked, astonished. The girls had only complained about the new teacher once to me.

"We're reading seven books this year! Seven! With Ezra, we only read four! You need to come back." He pleaded with Ezra.

"I can't. I'm sure Aria will go back to Rosewood eventually, right?" He turned to me.

I shrugged in response. I definitely wanted to go back to school eventually, but I had Lucy now. Someone needed to take care of her, and Ezra worked Monday through Friday.

"Whatever happens, I doubt that I will actually go back."

"Why?" Mike pressed.

"Why?" I asked in surprise. "Mike," I shook my head at his misunderstanding.

I set down my water and sighed.

"Mike." I started. "I had a baby with Ezra."

"So?"

"Ezra is my ex-English teacher."

"And? Why does that stop him from going back to Rosewood?" Mike asked, clearly missing the point.

"Because I am currently living with my ex-English teacher whom I had a baby with!"

"But I thought you guys were in love."

"We are. But that doesn't change the fact that there are people out there that will not be able to see that important detail."

"Good point." Mike sighed in defeat.

"I'm sure she's not that bad." Ezra tried, bringing the conversation back to the new English teacher.

"Oh, she's bad." Mike confirmed.

We heard the doorbell ring throughout the house. I got up from the barstool and went to get the door. After I paid for the pizza and thanked the delivery guy, I walked back into the kitchen to see Ezra and Mike still arguing about the new English teacher.

"She's such a hard grader! I've never gotten above a B on an essay!" Mike cried out, as I handed him a plate with a piece of pizza on it.

"If you need help, I'd be happy to go over one of your essays for you before you turn it in." Ezra suggested.

"Are you being serious?" Mike asked in surprise.

"Yeah, completely. You're practically my brother-in-law."

"Score!" Mike fist pumped the air.

Ezra and I chuckled at Mike's enthusiasm.

"We definitely know which class I am going to ace!" Mike grinned. "You know…" Mike raised his eyebrows at Ezra. "You could write them for me too, if you would like." Mike asked innocently.

"Nice try." Ezra smirked. "Just because I am dating your sister, does not mean I will let you cheat. Do not forget, I am still a teacher. I have not broken _all _the rules of being a teacher."

"You have broken a pretty good amount." I laughed at Ezra, shaking my head, referring to his relationship with me. If anyone knew about my relationship with Ezra, he would get in trouble in a heartbeat.

It was so nice seeing Ezra and Mike so comfortable around each other. They were already acting like brothers. I was so glad that my family and my friends got along so well with Ezra, even though he used to be our English teacher.

"But seriously, even on the most awful essays I had ever turned in, you had never given me below a C-."

Ezra looked at Mike, clearly knowing the comment that was coming next.

"Probably because you were dating my sister the whole time."

Ezra nodded at me with a smile on his face, confirming that he knew that those words were going to come out of Mike's mouth.

Mike suddenly gasped. "Did Aria ever make you write her essays for you? When you were still her teacher?"

"Did you actually just ask him that?" I glared at him.

"Did he?" Mike interrogated, completely ignoring me.

"No." Ezra smiled his boyish smile that I loved so much. "Aria was one of my greatest students. She never needed help in English and she easily aced the class."

"We all know why." Mike muttered under his breath.

"Oh my God, Mike. Quit with the jokes." I groaned. "We get enough of those from Hanna."

"Can't." Mike replied sympathetically. "That's what brothers are for."

Mike picked up his phone and flipped it open.

"Aria, what's Hanna's number?" He asked randomly.

I furrowed my brows in confusion at the weirdness of the question, but rattled off Hanna's digits by heart.

"Why?" I asked, after he entered them into his phone.

"Because that girl and I are going to have the time of our lives cracking jokes at you two." He grinned.

Ezra and I both groaned in annoyance.

"Aria, where's the bathroom?" Mike laughed, as he got up from his chair and looked around the room. I pointed towards the bathroom as I picked up his empty plate to put it into the sink.

As I felt a pair of very familiar arms wrap around my waist from behind, I let out a small giggle. Even when we were not alone, Ezra could not keep his hands off of me. He moved my shirt off of my shoulder slightly as he started pressing kisses onto my neck, trailing down to my shoulder. I giggled again as I tried to shrug him off.

"Not now!" I whispered. "My brother's in the other room!"

Ezra gave me one last kiss, before giving up.

I winked at him, letting him know that we could continue that tonight, before giving him one last kiss on the lips.

My phone buzzed loudly on the kitchen counter, indicating I had a new text.

I pushed Ezra's arms off of me as I grabbed my phone from the island.

The huge smile on my face quickly was replaced by a look of complete fear as I read the new text.

"**Your time of freedom is almost up. –A" **I read aloud. "What the hell is A talking about?" I cringed, as I sunk into the barstool nearest to me. I put my head in my hands in an effort to calm my raging nerves. Ezra came up behind me with utter fear traced all over his face as well. All the color drained from his face as he came to a realization.

"The pictures." Ezra whispered, almost inaudibly. "The pictures of us."

**Please review! Can we get to 450? **

**What else do you guys want to see in this story? I have the next few chapters planned out, but let me know what you guys want to happen (fluff/happy wise preferably) and I'll incorporate it somehow **


	31. Chapter 31

**Who else absolutely loved that last Ezria scene on Tuesday? So glad Ezra finally stepped up and fought for his girl! I felt kind of bad for Jason, but then Ezra's face came on the screen again and all my sympathy for Jason disappeared in an instant. Bye Bye Jason! But now… we have Jackie drama and Ella and Byron drama about their relationship. :(**

**Thank you so much for your reviews: msbookworm93, anonymous, PrettyLittleBethany, invisibleme1835, .heart, lalala17, SolitudeMyLove, and HarryLovesGinny09. **

Ezra's POV 

"Did someone just die?" Mike's voice sounded throughout the tense room.

Aria and I looked up at him with the same look of fear etched on both of our faces.

"Aria, what's going on? Is Lucy okay?" He asked desperately as he rushed over to her.

Aria must have snapped back into reality a moment later, when she saw Mike watching her and I intently, with confusion all over his face.

"Mike, um, we need you to leave." She said nervously.

I finally regained my composure as I grabbed Mike's coat and roughly shoved it into Mike's hands, while Aria frantically pushed Mike out the door.

"Sorry. Sorry Mike. We'll talk to you later." Aria shut the door behind her and turned around. She leaned against the back of the front door as my own brain tried to process what was going on. A was going to send the pictures in to the police. Our time was up. I was going to go to jail. Spencer's words from earlier rang throughout my head. _"Yes, yes he can. He committed a crime. It does not matter how long ago it was, or the fact that your relationship with each other is legal now, it was illegal at one point, and he still pursued it. And…. Ezra being the older one would get in trouble. Not you."_

Aria's POV

I bit my lip as tears quickly begun falling down my face. Ezra quickly ran over to me and wrapped his arms tightly around me in a protective manner.

"Why the hell can't A just leave me alone?" I asked furiously. Ezra tightened his hold on me as he tried to calm me down. He started whispering comforting words into my ear as he held onto me tightly.

Why did this have to happen now? When everything in my life was finally falling into place? When I was fully content with my life? Why?

"We need to leave." I whispered, finally finding my voice again.

"What?" Ezra looked down at me with confusion written all over his face.

"We need to leave." I said more confidently as I twisted myself in Ezra's arms so I could look into his eyes as I spoke. "Now. There's no point in A sending the pictures if you are not in Rosewood. But… but if A already sent the pictures, then we need to leave anyway!"

Ezra started shaking his head before I finished my sentence. "Aria, we've already had this conversation. We can't leave. Lucy's still in the hospital." He reminded me.

Shit. She still had three more weeks in the hospital before she was allowed to come home. But will it really hurt that much if we take her out early?

"We can take her out. We'll say it's a family emergency and that she can't stay in the hospital any longer."

"Aria, there's a reason she's in the hospital. And we don't want to take chances with that reason. She needs to get better."

"And so what are we supposed to do?" I cried out. "Wait here to let the police find you and put you in jail? I can't lose you Ezra! I can't!"

Tears started pouring down my face once again. Ezra stayed quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Fine. We'll go. We'll find a way to get her out of the hospital."

"Why can't A just leave me alone?" I asked again.

Ezra just shook his head. "Once we figure out who this idiot is, I swear I'm going to kill them for ruining your life."

We entered the bedroom and I walked over to the closet. I started grabbing random clothes and throwing them onto the bed. Ezra grabbed a duffel bag from the closet and started packing the clothes I had picked out into the bag. I left the room and walked down the hall. I stood in front of Lucy's room leaning against the doorway.

She still has not spent even an hour at home. And here we were, about to escape town with her in our arms.

I made my way over to the closet and picked out a few outfits that she could wear during our time away from Rosewood. After grabbing a pack of diapers, a blanket, and some pajama's, I placed them all into the duffel bag sitting on our bed. Ezra packed some bottles, formula, and some other things Lucy would need, before zipping up the bags and putting them into the trunk of our car.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Ezra said to me as he closed the trunk of our car.

"Me either." I shook my head. "And it's all A's fault."

Ezra came over to me and wrapped his arms around me. "Shh, it's okay, Aria." He pressed a kiss into my hair. "This will all be over soon."

I twisted my body around in Ezra's arms as I placed both of my hands on either side of his face. As I stood up on my tiptoes to give him a kiss, he leaned down and our lips met gently. His arm that was around my waist pulled me closer to him as we kissed each other hungrily. I could not ignore the feeling in me telling me that this was the end and that this was going to be one of our last kisses. A sudden feeling of fright of losing Ezra overwhelmed me as I clutched at his shirt with one hand, bringing him closer to me as our bodies collided. He must have felt it too, because I felt myself being lifted off of the ground as he placed his hands under my thighs to pick me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, holding him impossibly close to me, as our tongues explored the depths of each other's mouths.

This was worth fighting for. And there was no way that A was going to take Ezra away from me.

…PLL…

"We need to take Lucy home." Ezra told Dr. Fisher as we quickly walked into Lucy's hospital room. Cards and balloons that read the messages _ Get Well Soon _ or _Congratulations! _ were still scattered throughout the room from when Lucy was first born. Who knew, that only a few weeks later, we would be running away from Rosewood due to A.

"Why? You can't." He told us, his voice oozing obviousness.

"We have to." Ezra said bluntly.

"You can't." He repeated. "Although Lucy is almost four pounds, she needs to stay here for a few weeks longer, just so we know that everything with her health is okay."

"We'll take her to another hospital if we have to." I exclaimed. "But we need to get her out of-" My heart skipped a beat as I stopped mid-sentence. Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen lying facedown on the table that held all Lucy's cards, a small white piece of paper. The single letter A was printed onto the side that was facing up, however, the note was concealed within all the other cards, that only one who was standing in the exact position I was, would be able to see it.

All of a sudden, I slowly started walking towards the piece of paper. I picked it up in my shaking hands, completely forgetting that Ezra and I were not alone in the room.

"Aria?" Ezra's concerned voice asked me, whisking me back to reality. I whipped my body around, the unread A note still folded in my hand as I was met by Ezra and Dr. Fishers' confused gazes.

"S-sorry. I thought I saw something." I shoved the A note into the back pocket of my jeans, before turning to Ezra.

"We need to take her home. Just tell us what we need to do for her and if and when she needs to be taken back to the hospital." I quickly said, as I tried to hide my fear of A.

"Are you sure you need to do this?" Dr. Fisher asked again, hoping we would say no.

I nodded. "Y-yeah. We need to leave."

"Do you mind me asking why?" He asked curiously.

"It's… complicated." I tried to explain. "It's a family matter." I half-lied. He looked at me skeptically, not believing me.

"Here are some pointers on what to do to take care of her. Since she was premature, the most important thing right now is making sure that she continues gaining weight. It will be good if you two can keep track or start to record how much weight she gains or looses each day. Leave the breathing tube on her nose until she is able to properly breathe without it. Only a doctor will be able to know if the time is right to take it off, so make sure you don't forget to visit the hospital. How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"No idea." I answered honestly.

He jotted some notes down onto a piece of paper about how often to feed Lucy, when her naps should occur, what kind of things to look for if something goes wrong with the feedings, and warning signs that she should be taken back to the hospital. Ezra and I thanked the doctor as Ezra took the sheet from his hands and folded it up. He stuck it into his back pocket as the doctor picked Lucy up. He wrapped her tightly into a pink blanket to keep her warm, before handing her to me. I eagerly took her in my arms, basking in the overwhelming feelings that came to me while holding Lucy.

"Aria, what just happened?" Ezra asked as soon as Dr. Fisher left the room. He had a worried look on his face. Although I desperately wanted to hide it from him because I knew he would freak out, deep down I knew I could not. Not telling him about A's note would not only hurt me, but him and Lucy too.

I held Lucy closer to my chest with one hand as I used my other hand to reach into the back pocket of my jeans. I pulled out the A note and handed it to Ezra. I watched his facial expression change to that of confusion to that of fear.

"I'm always watching. –A." He read. He looked up from the note to meet my scared eyes.

"That means…" I whispered.

"A was here. In Lucy's hospital room." Ezra finished my sentence.

Oh my God. A could have done anything in here. I frantically looked around, looking for any other signs showing that A had been in the room.

"We need to get out of here. _Now."_ I said, as I used one hand to hold Lucy against my chest, and the other to grab Ezra's hand and lead him out of the room. We entered the hallway and I frantically searched around for Dr. Fisher. I finally found him standing in a corner talking to another doctor.

"I'm sorry, but we really need to leave. Can you, um, get everything else ready for Lucy so we can go? Please?" I begged.

He must have realized how stressed and scared I was, because he suddenly rushed us back into Lucy's room. After giving us a few more pointers on how we should take care of Lucy, since we were new parents, Ezra, Lucy, and I were free to leave the hospital.

"I hope you and Ezra are not lying about this just so you can take Lucy home early. I know you really want her to come home, but the reason we kept her here so long was to make sure she that she is completely healthy when you take her home."

"We're not." I assured him. "There's just a lot of stuff going on right now and we can't stay in Rosewood."

He nodded in understanding before we all exchanged our good-byes.

We buckled Lucy into the car seat my parents had bought her before quickly jumping into the car. Ezra drove out of the hospital parking lot, before asking me where in the world we were supposed to be going.

I contemplated this. We could just leave Rosewood now and start driving away, anywhere. But then I remembered my family. They would die if Ezra, Lucy, and I suddenly fell off the face of the earth with no warning or explanation. I owed it to them to at least say good-bye.

As we pulled into the driveway of my old house, I took a deep breath. I had always been good at lying to my parents, for example all the times I said I was going to one of the girls' house, when in reality I was going over to Ezra's. Although I would not give up Lucy for anything, there was no denying how much easier life was back then: Besides the fact that I was in a secret illegal relationship; I did not have a child, and Jackie had never been an issue for Ezra and I.

Ezra and I got out of the car at the same time. I unbuckled Lucy out of her car seat and held her in my arms. As I looked around, I could not shake away the feeling that we were being watched.

"Are you ready for this?" Ezra put his arm around my waist and pulled Lucy and me close to his body.

I shook my head, trying to hold back tears. I still could not believe that this was happening… All because of A.

Ezra kissed my forehead, before releasing me from his embrace. He took Lucy from my arms, who had stayed surprisingly quiet during the whole car ride to my parent's house, before we made our way to the front door. I rang the doorbell and took a step back.

"Aria!" My mom greeted. "Ezra! How are you?"

"Um, good." I responded as we entered the house.

My mom reached her hand out to take our coats.

"Ella, we can't stay long. We just wanted to say hi and see how you guys were doing." Ezra told Ella.

"We've been great. How have you guys been?" Ella asked.

Ezra and I shared a look, both not knowing how to answer the question.

"Um, we've been okay." I shrugged as we followed my mother into the kitchen.

"Uh, yeah, yeah. It's been okay." Ezra agreed.

"And I see that Lucy's with you!" She exclaimed, surprised. "When did you guys bring her home?" Ezra handed Lucy to Ella so she could hold her.

"Today. They let us take her home." I said as I looked around the kitchen. I needed to find a piece of paper and a pen, and I somehow needed to write down a message to my parents.

"That's great. You guys must be so excited. I'm so happy for you two."

I could not bear it. Seeing my mom so happy and enthusiastic about us taking Lucy home. If only she knew the real reason and the truth about what was going on.

"Let me go get Byron and Mike." As soon as Ella left the room, I rushed over to the desk in the corner of the room and grabbed a notepad. I frantically searched around for a pen. I picked on up and started to write, but the ink was out.

"It doesn't work!" I exclaimed frantically as I threw the pen onto the floor. Ezra was quick to hand me a working pen, as I quickly started writing on the notepad. It was so important that my mom did not catch me writing this. I looked up at Ezra and sighed after I finished. I handed the note to him to read and approve. He nodded at me, signaling that it was good, as he handed the paper back to me. I read it over once more.

_Mom and Dad, we can't tell you where we're going. We'll email you updates when necessary, but please don't call. We love you. Please keep each other safe, especially Mike. I love you… so much._

_~Aria, Ezra, and Lucy _

My eyes begun to water as I folded the note up and put it into my pocket. I had to find a place to put it before we left where I would be sure that they would find it.

"How are my baby girls? And Ezra." Byron chuckled as he walked into the room and gave each of us a hug.

I watched my dad eagerly take Lucy from Ella's arms and start cooing nonsense words to her. I felt a pang in my chest at the thought of leaving all of this behind. Who knows how long it will be before I see my family again? But then Ezra came into my view again and I remembered why I was leaving in the first place. To protect the man I loved so much.

I was not alone. Lucy and Ezra would be by my side. I could not wait for the day when we figure out who A is, bust A's ass and then put them in jail for what they have been doing to us.

We spent the next twenty minutes conversing about everything and nothing, before I realized that it was 8 o' clock.

"Ezra, we need to leave soon." I whispered to him. He glanced at his watch and nodded in agreement.

"Mom, dad we'd better get going, it's getting late." I said as Ezra and I got up from our chairs at the table at the same time.

"It's only 8." Byron said, glancing at the big clock on the wall.

"Yeah, but Lucy's starting to fall asleep." I motioned to Lucy's half asleep form in Ella's arms.

"Um, I need to go do something real quick." I said, looking at Ezra as I spoke, letting him know with my eyes what I was going to do.

I left the room and walked up the stairs straight into my parents' room. I flipped on the light and looked around the room. Nothing had changed since I had last been in here. I slowly walked over to the bedside table on Ella's side of the bed. I felt my eyes begin to water as I pulled the note out of my pocket and kissed it gently.

"I love you guys." I whispered into the darkness. I felt my wall of defense break right then and there as tears began falling slowly down my cheeks. I slid the note under my mothers' water glass, a place she would definitely spot it. I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand before going back downstairs.

We exchanged our good-byes and Ella handed Lucy back to me. Ezra and I left the house and started walking towards our car.

"Are you okay?" Ezra asked me, noticing my tear stained cheeks. I followed Ezra as he opened the car door and set Lucy down into her car seat. I remained quiet as he buckled her in and closed the door.

I looked up at him after he closed the door, not saying a word. He must have understood everything I was feeling because he quickly took me in his arms and enveloped me in a hug. I started sobbing into his chest, frantically clutching at his t-shirt. Ezra began pressing kisses to the top of my head as he held me tightly against him.

"I love you, Aria. And I promise to do everything I can to protect you." Ezra whispered into my hair.

We entered the car a few moments later in silence. We both knew what we were leaving behind, but we also knew that we had each other. I knew that having Ezra by my side was enough to help me get through whatever was ahead of me.

"Where to?" Ezra asked as he took my hand in his.

"Away from this horrible place. Just drive and we'll see where we end up." I whispered to him as we drove off into the darkness together.

**I started a four shot thing about what happens after 2x10 called Coming Out. It's about Aria's parents reaction to her and Ezra's relationship. I would love it if you guys would check it out if you haven't already! :)**

**Hope you guys liked this chapter and PRETTY PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! **


	32. Chapter 32

**Thank you so much for your reviews!: Ezrian, msbookworm93, Television Lover, A Regular Girl, RosalineMarie, Hiding,my,heart, invisibleme1835, lalala17, HarrylovesGinny09, PrettyLittle Bethany, StarWriter101, nightmares,and,dreamers, Misspperfect, bite-me-im-irish, and SolitudeMyLove! You are all so amazing! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except Lucy.**

Aria's POV 

Buzz… Buzz… Buzz…

My phone went off for the tenth time in the past hour, this time, fully waking me up. I picked it up and glanced at the caller ID: Home. I swiftly clicked ignore and dropped the phone back into the cup holder beside my seat.

"Where are we?" I yawned, as I stretched out my arms.

Ezra clicked on the GPS, bringing it to life. A map popped up, showing us our exact location.

"We're in Manis. Almost a hundred thirty miles from Rosewood." He said, pointing to the map.

I let out a sigh as I sunk back into the leather cushion of the seat. I could not believe that we were actually doing this. Ezra and I actually left Rosewood to get away from A. How could one person have such a huge affect on four teenage girls? Albeit Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and I were not angels, we were not _ that _bad of people, were we? Sure I ended up falling in love with my high school English teacher and getting pregnant at sixteen, but Ezra and I were soul mates. Fate brought us together at Snookers so many months ago, and fate kept us together by making Ezra my teacher. And yeah, Emily was gay, but so were plenty of other girls. Hanna had bulimia, but she was not the only girl in the world who was insecure about her weight. Hanna used to struggle to fit in, but so did a countless number of other people. And Spencer, she may have kissed one or two of her sisters' past boyfriends, but Melissa must not have truly loved any of them, or else she would have taken them back, even after they cheated. If they were mean to be, they would have ended up together. Just like Ezra and I. We have been through hell and back, yet we still are together and madly in love with each other.

If Alison were still alive, would A still be stalking us? Would any of this have happened?

_No, it wouldn't have_. Because I went to Snookers the day I got back from Iceland just to waste some time. If Alison had still been alive, I would have gone to hang out with the girls, not to be alone at a local Rosewood pub. If Alison had still been alive, the girls and I would not have lost touch with each other the summer before our Junior year.

And even if I _had_ gone to Snookers after dropping Mike off at lacrosse practice, I would not have ended up falling in love with Ezra, because Alison was the reason Ezra and I started talking to each other in the first place. If Alison's missing poster was not hanging up on the bulletin board in that pub, then Ezra never would have asked me if I was okay. Meaning we never would have talked, and we never would have gotten together.

For the first time in my life, and as wrong as it sounds, I was so thankful that Ali had gone missing.

I looked over to Ezra. I loved him so much, and I could not bear to lose him. Now that Lucy was in our lives, it was so important to me that he would always be there. For both Lucy and I.

"Aria, are you okay?" Ezra asked me. He glanced at me with a worried look on his face. I knew that I could not let him worry too much about me. We both knew that this was hard on both of us.

"Y-yeah." I assured him, giving him a small smile.

A moment of silence followed, before I spoke again.

"Ezra, thank you… For doing this with me. I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you." I whispered to him.

He immediately took my hand in his free one. "I love you, Aria, and I promise that I will never leave you."

"I love you too, Ezra." I whispered.

He slowed the car as we reached a red traffic light. He leaned over to give me a kiss, in reassurance that he would always protect me.

"Do you want to stop and get anything?" Ezra asked me, as he pulled away. He pointed towards a shopping center that was nearby. "I bet they're still open."

I glanced at the GPS of the car, in search for the time. It read 9:42 in bright green numbers.

"Sure."

I shifted my body in the seat so I could take a look at Lucy. She was sleeping peacefully in her car seat, her chest rising and falling with each breath she took. She was so beautiful. Angelic, even. Her light skin contrasted her dark hair so perfectly, that she truly looked too beautiful to be true.

"Is she asleep?" Ezra glanced in the front mirror to look at Lucy in the back seat.

"Yeah, we need to feed her in about two hours though… The formula's in my red bag in the trunk." I informed him.

Buzz… Buzz…

The screen of Ezra's phone lit up signaling a text. Ezra lifted it out of the cup holder next to mine that it was sitting in and opened up the text.

I heard him suck in a breath, as he stopped the car at another red light.

"Ezra, what's wrong?" I asked, looking at him in confusion.

Wordlessly, he held his phone up to me so I could read the text that lit up the screen.

"**You can run but you can't hide. –A**" I recited out loud.

"Ari-" Ezra began.

"Is A following us?"

"Well obviously they know we left town." Ezra said softly.

"How the hell did A even get your number?" I asked angrily.

"No idea." He said. "But Aria, I was thinking," Ezra began hesitantly, as he glanced at me before looking back at the road. "We should probably get new cell phones."

"So A can't text us anymore?" I asked hopefully, as I brought my legs up to the seat and curled my legs to my chest.

He nodded in response.

"We should have done that the day all this started." I said.

"Well you didn't know how dangerous A actually was back then." He reminded me.

Buzz… Buzz… Buzz…

My phone rang once again and I let out a sigh as I picked it up again. I looked at the caller ID: Home. I felt my eyes welling up with tears as I held my vibrating phone in my hands. I had two options: I could click ignore once again and force my parents to continue worrying over Ezra, Lucy, and I even more, or I could answer the phone. Answering the call would lead to me having to confess about where we were, why we left Rosewood, and all about A. I knew that confessing about A would lead to even more disaster, probably ending in my death.

Actually… A's desires are to hurt me. A could care less about my family and friends if they had no connections to me. A wouldn't kill me. A would rather see _ me _in pain, and hurt everyone I care about, then see everyone I care about in pain. A wants to hurt _ me. _

I shook my head and took a deep breath, before swiftly pressing ignore. I closed my eyes as I felt fresh, hot tears fall down my cheeks.

_What _did I do to deserve to go through this misery? _Who _wanted to hurt me so badly? Why couldn't the world be the happy place my parents had told me it was when I was a little girl? Why couldn't people just forget the past?

I felt Ezra's thumb brush against my cheek as he wiped away one of my stray tears. I finally opened my eyes as I dropped my phone back into the cup holder.

Ezra wordlessly took my left hand in his right, intertwining our fingers together. He brought our fingers up to his mouth, before he softly pressed his lips to my knuckles. I closed my eyes as I shifted in my seat so I was leaning against his body, with my head resting on his shoulder.

"Aria, we're here." I heard Ezra whisper softly, moments later.

I slowly opened my eyes, as they adjusted to the bright lights. I picked up my phone from the cup holder and slid it into my back pocket, before unbuckling my seatbelt and getting out of the car.

Ezra opened up the passenger door to get Lucy as I opened up the trunk to get my purse. As I slung it over my shoulder, Ezra told me that Lucy was awake.

Ezra was watching me, as he held Lucy against his chest. He had wrapped her up in her pink blanket.

I took Ezra's free hand in mine before looking around the parking lot. A few cars were scattered in spaces all around us, belonging to late night shoppers, who like Hanna, loved to shop until the stores kicked you out because they were closing.

I held Ezra's hand tighter in mine as I realized that A could be watching us right now.

We walked through the sliding doors in entrance to the mall. I followed Ezra as he led me to a map.

"Right there." I pointed to the AT&T store that was located near Nordstrom on the other side of the mall.

"Do you think they're still open?" I asked as we passed by the Guess store, where a woman was shutting off the lights, as she started to close the store.

"No idea." He replied.

We walked into the vacant phone store a few minutes later. Standing at the counter was a tired young woman who appeared to be in her early twenty's. She was mindlessly flipping through a magazine.

"What can I do for you tonight?" She asked, looking up at Ezra and I from the magazine.

"We need two new phones. Preferably prepaid?" Ezra asked, looking at me.

"Yeah." I nodded in affirmation.

"Well why don't you take a look over there and find two that you like, and I'll find two numbers for you." She smiled at us, before turning to her computer.

Ten minutes later, Ezra and I had activated two new prepaid phones under phony names, and had deactivated our old ones.

"A can no longer contact us." I said triumphantly as we walked out of the store.

"Hopefully this will all be over soon." Ezra sighed.

I felt a little bit better as we made our way through the mall and back into the parking lot.

Ezra buckled Lucy back into her car seat, before sliding into the drivers seat beside me.

"Where to now?" He asked me, as he took my hand in his again.

"Uh," I said as I tried to stifle a yawn. "Why don't we try and find a hotel to stay the night?"

Ezra clicked a few buttons on his GPS, before finding out that an Embassy Suites was nearby.

"How far should we go before we can safely go back home?" I asked Ezra sadly.

"I don't know baby. I don't know." He sighed.

We pulled up to the front doors of the hotel ten minutes later. I sat down in one of the chairs in the waiting room with Lucy in my arms as Ezra talked to the receptionist in search of a room for us.

Ezra appeared by my side a few minutes later, holding two room keys in his hands.

"We're room 316 on the third floor." He gave me a small smile before leading me to the elevator.

As we entered the room, I was surprised that a crib was already placed in the far corner of the room. I turned to Ezra, confused on how it got there.

"They must be fast." He shrugged, motioning to our few bags that had been placed on the bed.

Ezra held his hands out for Lucy. "Why don't you make her a bottle?"

"Yeah." I nodded, as I dug through my red bag in search for a baby bottle and formula. I picked up the two items and took them into the bathroom. I unscrewed the cap of the baby bottle and filled it up with water, before measuring the correct amount of formula and dumping the contents of the measuring cup into the bottle. I screwed the cap back onto the bottle, before turning on the tap and holding the bottle under the hot water to warm the milk.

I looked up at myself in the mirror. My eyes were red and puffy, but thankfully, my waterproof mascara had done its job.

These past few months had been the hardest I have ever had to endure. With finding out that Maria was not Ezra's daughter, to Lucy being born so premature and everything she ended up going through, along with the fact that A currently holds the power to send Ezra to jail, and that Ezra and I had to run away from Rosewood in order to escape A, I was surprised how I was actually functioning. I knew that I never would have been able to get through any of this, had Ezra not been by my side the whole time.

I touched my finger to the bottle to check if it was warm enough. I dried it off with a towel and walked back into the main room. Ezra was sitting in a chair near the window holding Lucy, whose big brown eyes were wide open, in his arms.

"I changed her." Ezra informed me, as I handed him the lukewarm bottle. He put it to Lucy's lips, and she eagerly started drinking. When she was done, Ezra set the bottle down on the end table and laid Lucy down in the crib so she could sleep.

I sat down on the arm of the chair and looked out the window. It held a great view of the town of Rosewood.

"It looks so innocent." I said softly.

"It is." Ezra responded, coming up behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head on my shoulder as he too, gazed out the window at the small town.

I looked at him questioningly. How could he say something like that after everything we have been through? Rosewood was a monster.

"The people inside of it are the problems." Ezra clarified when he saw the way I was looking at him.

He released me from his grip but took my hand in his and gently pulled my body towards him, as a signal for me to follow him. He sat down on the chair and pulled me into his lap. I curled my body against his and he wrapped one of his arms protectively around me. He started stroking my hair in a comforting manner with the other. I had to admit; being in Ezra's arms was my safe haven. He was my shield. When I was with him, I knew that he would protect me and that A had a smaller chance of hurting me, then when I was alone. I looked up at Ezra, to see that he was watching me.

"Aria, I love you." He said softly. "So much."

"Me too." I leaned up so I could press a kiss to his lips. He gently kissed me back, but held me tighter against him, as if reassurance that he would always protect me.

When I pulled away, I rested my head against Ezra's chest and closed my eyes, wishing for the day when all this A drama would be over.

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	33. Chapter 33

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I woke up with a start when I realized that there was not a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. I glanced at the clock beside me, that read 9:48. Looking around the void room, I realized that Ezra was gone. I got up from the bed and walked over to Lucy's crib. I peered inside to find out that Lucy was gone. I walked back over to the bed as I spotted a small piece of paper sitting at the edge of it.

**Aria, if you wake up before we're back, Lucy and I went downstairs to get us some breakfast. We will see you soon. Love Ezra.**

I set the note back down on the bed as I wiped the sleep from my eyes. I walked into the bathroom and splashed some water onto my face before brushing my teeth. I twisted my hair up into a messy bun and tied it up with a rubber band.

I picked up Ezra's jacket from the foot of the bed. The delicious smell of Ezra's cologne filled my nostrils. I sat down at the edge of the bed and closed my eyes, holding his jacket between my hands. I could not believe that Ezra actually agreed to do this with me. He had talked with me about it, like it was not a problem at all that we suddenly skipped town, in order to escape a malicious stalker.

But I knew better than that. It was not working. Even though both of us tried to hide it, it was hurting both of us being away from home. I needed to tell someone about A. Someone who could do something about A. The only problem with that was that A would end up getting back at me for telling someone about them.

I needed to get out of here. I decided to go for a walk, in an effort to clear my head and help me figure out what the hell I was supposed to do about this mess.

I quickly wrote a message on the back of Ezra's note to me, telling Ezra that I was going for a quick walk.

I slid on a pair of jeans and pulled a t-shirt over my head, before sliding my shoes onto my feet, grabbing my room key, and walking out of the hotel room.

As I entered the lobby I looked around for Ezra, but he was nowhere in sight. He was probably still with Lucy in the restaurant.

I knew that there were a some shops a few blocks from the hotel, so I decided I would just take a walk over there. I hailed a taxi and before I knew it, I was thanking him for the ride as I handed him the money. As I started walking down the sidewalk, my mind raced. Here I was, a sixteen-year-old mother, wandering the streets of an unknown town due to a cruel stalker, who refused to leave my friends and me alone. _Who _ out of the people I knew, was so set on ruining my life? As I passed an electronic store that had TV's set up all along the store window, something caught my eye. A news channel had been set on the TV's. Although I could not hear what they were saying, I knew that it had to do with Rosewood, since I could see the Rosewood Grille in the background behind the reporter. The town of Rosewood always had something going on.

I leaned against the brick wall next to the store as I pulled my phone out of the back pocket of my jeans and started scrolling through my texts. They were all old texts from Ezra, except for one. It was from my old phone number, and it was a forward that I sent to my new phone of the text A sent Emily of Ezra and I kissing. I let out a deep breath. It was _so _obvious that Ezra and I were the two people in the picture. I clicked on the other picture A sent us. Ezra and I were standing in his classroom and he was holding my hands. I remembered the moment so well. We both had huge smiles on our faces, eager to see the other that night. I had just told Ezra that I would be coming over later that night, _ and _that my parents agreed to me staying the night at his place, or as my parents thought, Spencer's house.

What was going on back in Rosewood? Was my relationship with Ezra the talk of the town? Did everyone know about our past illegal affair?

I quickly dialed Emily's number, and tapped my foot impatiently against the sidewalk as I waited for her to answer.

"Hello?" Emily asked.

"Hey Em, it's Aria." I said, looking around the street as random people quickly walked by me, in a hurry for whatever their destination was.

"Oh my God, Aria, where are you?" She exclaimed.

"I can't tell you that." I sighed.

"A-are you okay? What happened?" She asked frantically.

"Look, Em, I can't tell you what's going on-" I began, but she interrupted me.

"Does it have to do with A?" She asked me quietly.

"I need you to do me a favor. Please." I begged, ignoring her previous question.

"Sure anything." She responded.

I was so thankful that I had a friend like Emily. She was such a sweetheart and she always did whatever she could to help me when I needed her.

"I need you to talk to Garret."

"Why?" She asked, surprised laced all over her voice.

"Because out of the four of us, you know him best. Just ask him how work is, if he has any leads on Alison's killer, and if there's any new interesting cases in and stuff."

Emily was silent for a moment, before quietly speaking. "A case about a teacher and a student? You and Ezra?"

I closed my eyes as I nodded. I quickly realized that Emily could not see me, before I softly answered, "Yeah."

"I'll do it right now." She said, before hanging up.

I slowly brought my phone away from my ear as the call ended. A was ruining everything. My life, my friends, and my relationship with Ezra. Why was A so desperate to make my life a living hell? Why was A just going after _me?_

Suddenly, the TV's next to me caught my eye, as two separate pictures of Ezra and I came up with the word _ missing _in big letters at the bottom of the screen.

So now we were missing? My parents were most likely the ones who filed us as missing. Of course they would freak out after receiving a note like the one I left them and then not being able to contact me on my phone because it was disconnected. They were parents after all, and it was their job to worry.

My phone rang again and Emily's number lit up on the screen.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Aria?" She asked.

"Yeah, what did he say?" I pressed.

"He didn't say anything having to do with a school but he mentioned that you and Ezra and now missing persons! But he said your names separately, he called you Aria Montgomery and then he called Ezra Mr. Fitz, that old English teacher at Rosewood High." She exclaimed. "He didn't have your names together, meaning that he doesn't know about the two of you being together when he was our teacher! I doubt he even knows about the two of you being together now!"

I let out a sigh. Although this was better news than I expected, it was still very frustrating.

"So obviously, A hasn't sent the pictures in yet… But I got a text from A few days ago, saying that my time was up!" I cried out, frustration laced throughout my voice. "And they were definitely talking about the pictures."

"Well A lied to you to scare you." Emily said.

I remained silent at this. A's plan definitely worked, because they scared the crap out of me. But what if A was just waiting? Waiting for the right time to send in the pictures? The moment she knew would destroy me forever?

"Aria, you guys need to come home." Emily said, after I did not respond to her previous comment.

"Emily, I-I got to go." I said before hanging up the phone.

I hailed a cab back to the hotel and quickly gave the driver directions of where to go.

I knew what I had to do. I could not keep doing this to him. I had to leave. With Lucy… and without Ezra.

As soon as I arrived back to the hotel, I raced up the stairs since I knew that the elevator would take too long. I reached our room and shoved the keycard into it, as the door unlocked for me.

I looked around the room, realizing that Ezra and Lucy still were not back yet. Tears I had been holding back finally started falling down my face as I grabbed my clothes from last night off of the chair next to the desk and threw them into my duffel bag. I quickly entered the bathroom and gathered up all of my stuff, before setting them into the bag. As I zipped it up, I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

I jumped backwards as the door to the room opened up behind me.

"Hey," Ezra said softly, as he walked through the door with Lucy and a small paper bag in his arms. "We brought you some food if you're hungry."

He set Lucy down in the crib, before turning back to face me.

Wordlessly, I looked up at Ezra, my expression full of fear and sadness, and tears falling down my face.

"Aria, honey, what's wrong?" Ezra asked, as he immediately enveloped me in his arms. He wiped away the tears with his thumb as he looked into my eyes, waiting for me to answer. I had to tear my gaze away from him, knowing that if I did not, I would back out of what I had to do. No matter how much it hurt me, I knew that I had to do it. I had to protect him from A.

"Ezra…" I whispered, as more tears fell down my face.

Wordlessly, Ezra crushed my body against his, holding me close to his chest. I wrapped my arms around him, resting into his embrace for a moment, before the reality that I was just making this harder for both of us, caught up to me.

I quickly removed myself from his embrace, shoving his arms off of me.

He looked down at me, confusion written all over his face. "Aria, what's wrong?"

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. The look in his eyes was heartbreaking. But the fact that I was about to crush him was heart shattering.

"I can't do this to you anymore." I whispered not meeting his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" He asked worriedly.

"I can't be with you anymore." I said in barely a whisper as tears continued falling down my face.

He was silent for a moment, as he comprehended my words. Finally, he looked back at me, hurt all over his face. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"I can't do this anymore." I nodded, as I tightly closed my eyes. I opened them a moment later to see the hurt expression on his face.

I put my hand on his cheek before softly pressing my lips to his for a moment, feeling his hot tears transfer onto my face.

I pulled away, and closed my eyes for a moment.

I had to do this. It was the right thing to do. I could not hurt him anymore.

"Aria." I heard him whisper in a pleading voice.

I shook my head. "I can't. I can't Ezra. Not right now anyway." I slid my purse onto my shoulder and crossed the room. I picked up Lucy, holding her close against my chest.

"Aria, you can't do this!" Ezra cried out, rushing over to me on the other side of the room.

"I have to. I can't keep hurting you like this. I've ruined your life and it weren't for me, you would happy with some amazing girl living a carefree life. Not… taking care of a baby, and escaping town from a stalker who's going after your sixteen-year-old girlfriend." I exclaimed as tears started falling quicker down my cheeks. "I've put you through so much misery by being in a relationship with you. And because I love you, A is _going _ to hurt you. I can't let that happen." I sobbed quietly.

He watched me with tears brimming his own eyes. "Aria, please." He whispered as he grabbed my hands in his.

We stood there in silence for a moment, taking in the truth of the moment, before Ezra spoke again.

"What changed your mind?" He asked quietly, struggling to keep his voice steady, as a lone tear escaped his eyes and slowly trailed down his cheek.

I knew that he was referring to how, before, I let him get involved in this mess. But now, here I was, forcing him to get out of it.

"Reality." I said quietly, as I turned towards the door.

"Aria, we have a daughter! You can't just leave to protect me! I can protect myself!" He cried out as he grabbed the hand that was not holding Lucy against me, once again.

I shook my head. "If A wants to, they will kill you. Because of me." I said quietly. "I've already put you through misery when you didn't deserve it, so why put you through hell too?"

"Aria, don't say that! You've only made my life better!" He cried out, trying to get me to understand.

I shook my head again. "If we're really meant to be, Ezra, then in the future, we will find each other again. But it's killing me right now, knowing that I'm ruining your life by being with you."

I barely was able to comprehend what happened next, but before I knew it, I was in Ezra's arms, and he was forcefully pressing his lips against mine. I stayed still for a moment, not responding to the kiss, knowing that once I did, it would make leaving him ten times harder. As his tongue traced my quivering lower lip, all my defenses fell as I eagerly opened my mouth and crushed half of my body against his, in a way that would not hurt Lucy.

As soon as I realized what I had done, I quickly pulled away from him.

Ezra looked at me, speechless. "Aria, don't. Please." He begged.

I shook my head as I grabbed my bag and turned to the door. "I love you, Ezra." I whispered, before wiping my tears away with my hand and leaving the room. I quickly entered the elevator as I kept telling myself over and over again that I was doing the right thing. That this was for the best. Even though I just crushed three hearts; if Lucy was older, she would have hated me too; I knew that I had to do it. There had been no other choice.

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	34. Chapter 34

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Ezra's POV

"_I love you, Ezra." She whispered to me, cradling Lucy in her arms, before turning towards the door and walking out of the hotel room without a single glance back at me. _

I stood there, frozen for a moment, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Aria had left me, for the _second time, _ and this time, with our daughter. There was _no way _I was going to let myself lose her again.

I ran towards the door and yanked it open, as I frantically searched the void hallway for Aria and Lucy. They were both gone. I ran towards the elevator, hoping she would still be waiting for one, however, they were all empty and there were no signs of life.

I took a deep breathe in an attempt to calm myself. Where the hell did she go? She could not have gotten far; it had only been a minute since she walked away from me! I hurried towards the stairs, knowing the elevators would take longer to get downstairs. I rushed my way down, skipping every two stairs. I burst through the door leading to the lobby as I desperately looked around for Aria. Once again, she was nowhere to be found. I ran over to the receptionist standing at the front desk and bombarded her with questions.

"Have you seen…" I started breathlessly. "A teenage girl, dark hair, brown eyes, about yay tall," I held my right hand up in front of me. "She had an infant in her hands wrapped in a pink blanket." I said frantically.

The woman looked at me for a moment, she must have thought I was crazy.

"She left a few minutes ago." She pointed towards the revolving doors at the front of the hotel.

I sprinted towards the doors without even muttering a thank you to the woman. As I burst outside, I frantically looked around for Aria. There were a few people around the area, but Aria was not amongst any of them. I ran from the front of the hotel, hoping to get a better view of my surroundings to help me find Aria.

I finally spotted a short brunette quickly walking towards the parking lot.

"Aria!" I called, as I raced after her. Where was she going? What was she planning on doing? We had driven my car here, and I was pretty sure that my keys were still in the hotel room in the pocket of the jeans I had worn yesterday.

Why couldn't she just understand that I could protect myself? That I was not scared of this A person! That I would not let anyone or anything tear us apart!

"Aria!" I called again, as I rushed over to her and grabbed her hand, spinning her around. I could not let her do this again. There was no way I could lose Aria again. And this time, she was taking Lucy away from me too!

However, to my astonishment, it was not Aria's sparkling brown eyes that I was met with when the woman turned around, but a random stranger's green ones.

"S-sorry." I said quickly, letting go of the woman's hand. "I thought you were someone else."

The woman gave me a small smile in understanding, before continuing down the sidewalk.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pressed Aria's number on speed dial. I continued frantically searching around me for Aria and Lucy. As the phone rang and rang I started getting more and more frustrated. Why couldn't she just answer the stupid phone? Why was Aria being so stubborn?

My call was met with Aria's voicemail. "Aria, come back! Please come back! We can work through this together! Please Aria!" I cried into the phone, before I ended the call.

I hurried towards the parking lot in search for my car. There was no way that she had taken my car, since I had the keys upstairs. I spotted my silver Toyota sitting in the same spot it had been all night.

Where the hell had she gone? I dialed Aria's phone number again, as I felt fresh hot tears brimming the edge of my eyes. After a few moments, I was met with Aria's voicemail once again. "Aria, please! Answer your phone! I'm not going to let you leave me again! Please, Aria!" I cried into the small piece of plastic.

I ran my hand through my hair in a frustrated manner as I roughly hung up the phone. I needed to leave, now. I needed to find Aria. The problem was that I had no idea where she would have gone. We were a few hours away from Rosewood, and I was sure that Aria did not know this town well. How is it that she was able to walk away from me so easily? After everything we have been through, why did she think that this A person would actually be able to tear us apart? Aria and I have been through everything, yet she let A ruin our relationship so easily! Did she have any second thoughts this morning? Had she been planning to leave me like this for a while now? Yesterday, she had been so set on fighting for us, on not letting A destroy our relationship with each other, yet in just a few hours, she changed her mind completely.

I raced back into the hotel and barged into my room. Mine and Aria's room. I quickly moved around the room and threw all of my stuff back into my duffel bag. As I threw a shirt into the bag, I dialed the number to the phone I bought with Aria while we were leaving Rosewood. "Come on, come on, Aria!" I muttered, praying that she was going to answer, as I quickly tossed my toothbrush and other toiletries into the bag.

I stopped what I was doing as I heard a faint buzzing sound coming from somewhere in the room. I looked around me as I tried to figure out where the buzzing was coming from. I slowly started moving towards it as I heard the vibrating coming from near the bed. To my dismay, there was nothing on the bed. I moved the pillows aside, hoping to find Aria's phone, but once again, I was left disappointed. I dialed the number again and remained quiet as I listened for the buzzing.

_Buzz… Buzz… _

I crouched down and peered underneath the bed as I heard the vibration again. In front of me, was not one, but both of Aria's cell phones, lying facedown on the white carpet.

"You've got to be kidding me." I muttered under my breath.

I snatched both of the phones and unlocked them. Aria's old phone buzzed with a text alert. I quickly opened up the text, which was sent from an unknown number, that I guessed was A.

**You know what to do to keep Ezra safe. –A **

It was sent about ten minutes ago, meaning that A had sent this text to Aria _after _Aria had left me.

Aria must have been so afraid of A, that she had left her phone here in an attempt to escape A's messages and threats.

Aria had done exactly what A wanted her to do, without even having to be threatened to do it.

I shook my head in disbelief as I felt my eyes welling up with tears. Who wanted to hurt Aria so badly? What had she done to make someone want to hurt her like this? To completely and utterly ruin her life?

I had promised Aria that I would always protect her and Lucy, yet here I was, completely letting her down.

I shoved the rest of my belongings and Aria's that she had left behind into the duffel bag, before grabbing it and heading out the door.

Five minutes later, I was back in my car and driving away from this small town.

I picked up Aria's old phone and looked through her phonebook in search for one of her friends' numbers. Spencer Hasting's was the first number to pop up, so I quickly dialed it.

"Aria!" Spencer exclaimed, answering the phone barely a second after I had clicked send. "Where the hell are you? A sent us a text saying that they got rid of you, Ezra, and Lucy! What the hell happened to you guys?" She cried out, speaking one hundred miles an minute.

I felt my heart sink to my knees as I listened to her words. If Spencer did not know where Aria was, then I doubted that Hanna or Emily did either.

"Spencer, this isn't Aria." I said quietly.

"Ezra?" She asked.

I nodded, but it quickly dawned on me that she could not see me.

"Y-yeah. You don't know where Aria is? She hasn't talked to you?" I asked, a wave of sadness, regret, and frustration, washing over me.

"No, sorry. Why? What happened?" Spencer asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

"She left with Lucy. Just like that. She just walked away, and I have no idea where the hell she went!" I clenched the steering wheel in my hands in frustration as I spoke into the Bluetooth of the car. "Where the hell could she have gone? She doesn't have a car or anything!"

"I'll ask around and try to figure out if anyone has heard anything and I'll let you know." Spencer assured me.

"Thanks, Spencer." I said, before hanging up.

I drove faster and faster as my mind raced. At the rate I was going, I would end up back in Rosewood in half the time it took Aria and I to get away from there.

I picked up the phone again and was about to dial Aria's parents, but I stopped myself. What if they still thought that Aria was with me? They would never forgive me for all of this, since they thought I would always protect Aria while I was with her. Where the hell was she? She could be anywhere!

What was I supposed to do? Call the police and let them know that Aria and Lucy were missing? What if A sent the pictures in? Then I would definitely go to jail!

I could not help but blame myself for some of this. If Aria and I had never stayed together, then she never would have gotten pregnant. She never would have had to sacrifice her family for me.

Aria was only a teenager. She was a sixteen year old girl, who had a daughter with an older man. She was in love with her old English teacher. There was no question about it, I loved Aria with my whole being, and she meant the world to me, yet I could not stop myself from wondering about how much happier and _ safer _ she would be if we had not pursued a relationship with each other after finding out the truth.

She was being stalked by a psychotic freak, who was trying to, _and _ had the power to, ruin her life. It was like A controlled Aria's life and decided what she was going to do next, and Aria had no choice in it. It was like A was playing a game, and Aria and her friends were the pieces, yet A was the only player.

I could tell from the way she spoke to me earlier, that she was feeling helpless. She just wanted all of it to stop. She knew, that the only way A would quit playing this ruthless game, was if Aria obeyed A's commands.

At this point, I really did not care if I went to jail for being in a relationship with Aria. I knew that Aria and I would find a way to work everything out if A actually sent the pictures in. We had managed to make it through everything else that life has thrown at us, so why not this?

Truth to be told, all I cared about was that Aria and Lucy were safe, and that they knew that I loved them.

**Hope you guys liked this, and PLEASE REVIEW! **


	35. Chapter 35

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The drive back to Rosewood took half the amount of time it took to leave. As soon as I pulled into the driveway of our house, I jumped out of the car and burst inside. All the lights were off and there were no signs of life. I quickly searched throughout the house for Aria or Lucy, but had no luck.

Why did Aria think it would be okay to leave me like this? What had been going through her mind when she had left me?

I knew that there was only one other place that Aria could possibly be.

I got back into the car and drove off to Aria's parents house. The sinking sun created a reddish glow across the street, a sign that night was nearing.

As soon as I reached the Montgomery house, I quickly knocked on the door, only to be greeted by a sad Ella Montgomery.

"What's wrong?" I immediately demanded in a worried tone, not giving Ella a chance to speak. Had she found out that Aria had left me with Lucy?

As I heard a sob come from inside, I looked past Ella to see Aria sitting on the couch in the living room holding Lucy in her arms. Mike and Byron were on either side of her, comforting her and talking quietly to her.

She looked up from Lucy and her eyes met mine.

It was if the whole world had stopped and it was just Aria and I. No one else mattered.

In that moment, I forgot about A. I forgot that I could go to jail for being with Aria. I forgot that her parents were in the room. All the problems Aria and I have been through did not matter anymore. It was just Aria and I.

She quickly stood up and gave Lucy to Mike, before she began walking towards me. An unspoken apology passed between us. Apologizing for leaving me. Apologizing for thinking that leaving me would make everything better.

I met her halfway, and wrapped my arms around her, as I embraced her tightly. She wrapped her arms around my neck as she continued to cry.

She sobbed into my chest as I held her impossibly close to me, not wanting to let go of the beautiful girl in my arms.

She finally looked up from my chest with red and glassy eyes. She looked so hurt. All I wanted was for that broken look in her eyes to go away forever.

"I'm sorry." She said to me in barely a whisper.

I held her closer to me, a silent sign that I had forgiven her.

"Don't ever leave me again." I whispered back as I buried my face in her sweet smelling hair.

She tightened her arms around my neck, as her tears soaked my shirt. I rested my chin on her head as I held her securely against me.

"We'll leave you two alone." Ella said, as she led Byron and Mike, who was holding Lucy, out of the room.

Aria looked up at me and stared into my eyes for a moment, before crushing her lips against mine. The kiss was passionate and heated, as I pulled her as close to me as possible, without hurting her. I had not realized how much I had missed her in those past few hours until now. I missed the feeling of her lips against mine so much, that I took full advantage of the moment. As I opened my mouth, our tongues met in a fiery battle for dominance.

I pulled away a moment later, and caressed her cheek, wiping away some of her tears as I did so.

"What are we going to do?" She whispered to me.

I knew that she was talking about the pictures. It had been two days since we had left Rosewood because A had sent us a text saying that they would turn in the pictures of us, yet nothing had happened.

If the police knew that Aria and I were together, wouldn't Byron and Ella have told us by now? Wouldn't it have been on the news that a teacher had a relationship with his student? Especially in this small town?

"I don't know Aria…" I said uneasily.

Was A messing with us? It was more frustrating not knowing _when_ they were going to get me in trouble than it was worrying that I would get in trouble.

"I can't lose you again Ezra." She whispered to me as more tears escaped her eyes.

I wanted nothing more than to comfort her and tell her that it was going to be okay. I wanted to hold her in my arms and never let go; protecting her from anything and anyone who tried to hurt her. If I had it my way, I would never let this beautiful girl out of my sight.

"Please…" She whimpered. "Don't leave me." She buried her head into my chest again. The sound of her voice was heartbreaking. How could she ever think that I would leave her? I loved her far too much to ever abandon her. "I can't lose you." She repeated, as she fiercely shook her head.

After everything we had been through, did she really think that I would leave her? Especially now? Our relationship had survived through Jackie's lies about Maria, a pregnancy, and everything that Lucy went through when she was born. Had Aria not learned anything from that? Why couldn't she realize that I was _never _going to leave her?

She had been the one to leave me, twice. Shouldn't _ I _ be telling her to never leave _me? _

"Honey, I promise to always be here." I mumbled into her sweet smelling hair, as I held her petite body closer against me.

She lifted her head from my chest and I wiped away some of the tears that had escaped her eyes.

"I just… felt so alone." She whimpered. "I didn't want to get you involved in this mess any more than you have. You're already sacrificing everything to be with me, and now with A…" She trailed off and looked down for a moment before speaking again.

"Aria, don't ever forget that you're never alone. I'm always going to be here for you, no matter what happens. Don't you know by now how much I love you?"

She remained silent at this as more tears fell down her face.

"Aria…" I whispered in a broken voice. Did she really not know? After all this, did she really still doubt my love for her?

She looked back up at me but instead of speaking, she placed both hands on either side of my face and kissed me.

I knew exactly what her answer was.

I wrapped my arms around her as she tangled her fingers in my hair. She opened her mouth slightly, allowing my tongue to enter.

I pulled away a moment later, but instead of releasing her from my grip, I held Aria against me. She rested her head on my chest. We remained like that for a few moments, needing the feel of each other's company.

Aria looked up at me a moment later and spoke.

"I need to tell them." Her voice shook, showing her uneasiness about revealing so much to her parents in such a small amount of time.

"Not about A, but about the pictures." She clarified, her voice a bit stronger than before.

I had never once told Aria this before, but I strongly admired her strength and confidence. Even when her whole world was crashing down upon her, she was able to somehow stay strong. She put on a brave face and acted like everything was all right.

I released my grip on her as I felt her pulling away from my embrace.

"Are you sure about that?" I asked her, as I stroked her cheek with my thumb.

She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. "Y-yeah."

"Okay." I whispered.

I gave her one last kiss, letting my lips linger on hers for a moment just for the feeling it brought, before taking her hand and leading her into the kitchen where Mike, Lucy, Byron and Ella were all sitting.

I turned to Aria, who had a determined look on her face.

"Mom? Dad?" She asked.

Ella and Byron turned to us questioningly.

"There's something we need to tell you." Aria whispered.

I held her in my arms once again as tears begun to fall down her rosy cheeks.

"Shhh." I soothed her, wishing that all her pain would just go away.

She composed herself a moment later and looked back up at her parents.

"If the police come to you about Ezra and I," She began as she wiped away some of her tears with the back of her hand. "I need you to lie to them."

Both Ella and Byron had shocked looks on their faces as they listened to their daughters' request.

"Why?" Ella asked, surprised.

Aria took a deep breath and glanced at me before responding.

"Someone knows how long Ezra and I have been together. And they're going to tell the police."

**Sorry this took so long! Hope you guys liked it and PLEASE REVIEW! **


	36. Chapter 36

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"We know," Ella nodded.

"What? How?" I scrunched my eyebrows at Ella, completely confused.

"The police came here yesterday looking for the three of you."

I looked at her in shock. The police had beat me to my parents? How was Ezra not in jail right now?

I slowly turned to Ezra, who had pure shock displayed all over his face as well. Both Ezra and I sunk down into the chairs beside us as we processed Ella's words.

"Well, what happened?" I asked, looking up at her in disbelief.

"They had some pictures of the two of you in Ezra's old classroom and they wanted to know if he took advantage of you. I told them that the pictures were taken after Ezra left Rosewood."

"And they believed you?" Ezra asked, shocked.

Ella nodded. "Lucky for you, yeah, they did. Officer Garret though, seemed a little suspicious. He kept asking me if I was telling the truth or not and that I shouldn't try to do anything to protect you." Ella told Ezra.

A's plan had completely backfired. A got what they wanted, but their plan did not work.

"Thank you for that, Ella."

I looked up as I heard a set of footsteps enter the room. Mike appeared a moment later with Lucy in his arms. "What's going on?"

Ella looked at me, asking for permission to tell him the truth.

"The police know that Ezra and I were together while he was my teacher." I stated.

Mike looked at me in disbelief. Ezra held his arms out for Lucy as Mike quickly transferred the small girl into Ezra's arms. Ezra held her close to his chest and pressed a kiss to her forehead. I could not help but smile. Lucy had him wrapped around her little finger.

"How?" Mike asked, curiously.

Ella walked over to a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a manila envelope. I immediately snatched it from her hands and ripped it open, knowing exactly what I was going to find.

The first picture revealed itself again as Ezra and I kissing in his classroom.

I flipped the other picture over. Ezra was holding my hands in his and we were standing at the front of his old classroom.

Mike glanced at the pictures and gasped. "Seriously you guys? Why would you be so irresponsible?"

I looked at him in disbelief. "It doesn't matter anymore, the police dropped the case."

"It does matter, because they could have sent Ezra to jail." Mike clarified. "What would you have done then, Aria? Lucy wouldn't have a father because of your carelessness."

"Mike, stop." Ella said.

"No! She needs to realize that she's a mother and that she needs to take better care of her daughter!" Mike cried out, throwing his hands up in the air.

"You think I don't know that?" I asked, as tears began to brim my eyelashes. "Mike, you don't realize what kind of hell I've been through these past few months! Lucy was born three months early! There was a chance that she wasn't going to make it through all of that! She was overdosed because some doctors were stupid and irresponsible. How do you think I felt, as a mother, watching my daughter go through all of that? I only wanted her to come home. How helpless do you think I felt, watching her in so much pain, and not being able to do a single damn thing about it? I couldn't even hold my daughter properly, because there were always tubes and wires connected to every part of her body."

Ezra came up behind me and took me in his arms, trying to comfort me. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as I recalled all those painful memories. The fear that had flooded through me when my water had broken that night was indescribable. At that moment, I had not known what was going to happen to my baby.

"Mike," Ezra interfered. "Aria's been through a lot these past few months. You have to admit, for being a teenage mother, she's doing a really good job."

"Of course you'll take her side!" Mike snapped.

"You know what, I want to leave." I looked up at Ezra. "We need to get home, it's getting late." I grabbed my coat from the couch and slid it on.

"We'll see you guys later."

After our quick good-bye's, I followed Ezra and Lucy out of my parents' house. We silently got into the car, and begun the short drive home.

As we entered the quiet house, an overwhelming feeling of happiness washed over me. I was finally home. Ezra, Lucy, and I were together again. A couldn't do anything to hurt us, because my parents were on our side.

Ezra disappeared into Lucy's room, probably to change her and put her to sleep.

He was being so helpful, that I felt bad. I knew he loved Lucy to death, and I was so thankful that I have had him by my side during my pregnancy. He stood by my side the whole time. Even after finding out that his teenage girlfriend was pregnant; he stuck with me through the whole thing. Even after the countless times Jackie tried to get him back, he never gave in. He could have had the perfect little family with Jackie and Maria. They could have been living in cozy little house with a white picket fence, taking Maria out for ice cream on Friday nights, and going to the movies together as a family of three, without receiving any nasty glares or dirty looks from passerby's. He would never have gotten any crap from anyone about being with a student. His life would have been simple and carefree.

_But he doesn't want any of that._ A voice in the back of my head reminded me. _He wants you._

I felt a tear begin to slide down my cheek. He really did love me. And only me.

I hastily wiped away the few tears that had escaped eyes, as I heard Ezra re-enter the room.

"Aria, are you okay?" Ezra asked quietly, after a few silent moments. He hung his coat up in the closet before turning to me.

I turned to look at him. I had not realized how exhausted and stressed he looked until now. I had put him through his own personal hell when I left the hotel the other night. He must have gone crazy, not knowing where Lucy or I were. Anything could have happened to us, and he never would have known about it.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, as I took a few steps closer to him.

"I know." He nodded, realizing what I was talking about immediately. "Just promise me..."

"Anything." I whispered.

"Don't ever leave me again."

I nodded, before crushing my lips to his. His tongue traced my lower lip before he thrusted his tongue into my open mouth as he tangled his fingers in my hair. I moaned against his lips as I pulled him closer to me. He kissed me fervently, holding me impossibly close against him. Ezra slipped his hands under my thighs before hoisting me off of the ground. I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist, pressing our bodies as close as possible together, as I locked my legs around his body. Our tongues explored each other's mouths, as he moaned softly against my lips.

"Bedroom." I mumbled against his lips as I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck. He effortlessly guided us to the bedroom without breaking off the passion filled kiss.

Ezra gently laid me down on the bed before our lips met again with a heated intensity. I slid my hands up his shirt to explore the lengths of his chest, before pulling the shirt off of him completely. Ezra made sure that my shirt was not far behind, as he tugged it off of me before hastily tossing it to the floor. He kissed me again with a renewed passion, as I pressed my body tightly against his. Sparks soared through my body as my mind began to get dizzy from all the kissing. As our mouths molded perfectly against each other, I could not help but wonder how I got so lucky. What had I done to deserve a man as perfect as Ezra?

My thoughts were quickly whisked away as I pulled away from Ezra's lips in desperate need of air. Our mouths quickly met again however, desperate to feel the pressure of the others' again. Ezra's hands moved to my waist as our tongues played together, teasing each other endlessly. I kissed him back feverishly, wanting everything.

"Ezra…" I moaned against his lips, before kissing him harder and deeper. I tangled my fingers in his hair as our tongues danced together.

Breathlessly, Ezra pulled away for a moment. "I love you."

My heart skipped a beat as I pulled his body closer to mine, our lips meeting in a kiss full of raw passion. We continued from there.

**This story is going to be ending really soon! I decided on 2 or 3 more chapters. Hope you guys liked this, PLEA****SE REVIEW! **


	37. Epilogue

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_Five Years Later _

"Mommy! Daddy! Wake up!" A little voice exclaimed as our mattress began to shake.

I slowly opened my eyes to find Lucy jumping up and down on our bed, a huge smile lighting up her face. Her dark curls bounced up and down with her as she continued jumping on the bed.

"What's wrong?" Ezra mumbled as he rolled over to face Lucy.

"Guess what today is?" Lucy asked eagerly.

"Hmm… Is it Valentine's Day?" I asked jokingly.

"No!" Lucy shook her head forcefully. "Come on! Guess again!"

Ezra propped himself up on his elbows as he watched Lucy with a playful glint in his eyes. "Is it Halloween?"

"Daddy!" Lucy groaned at Ezra's answer.

"I know!" I exclaimed. Lucy's eyes lit up as she turned to me, waiting for me to say the words she wanted to hear. "It's the first day of spring!"

"Noooo." Lucy wined, disappointment clearly written all over her face.

"I know what it is." Ezra playfully scooped Lucy into his arms, lifting her off the mattress. She screamed in delight. "It's my little girl's birthday." He whispered in her ear.

"Yes!" Lucy exclaimed happily. "Finally you guessed it right!" Lucy threw her arms around Ezra's neck as she hugged him.

"Do you really think we would forget your birthday Luc?" I asked. "We were just messing with you."

Lucy looked at me with a skeptical look on her face as if she was trying to figure out if I was lying or not.

"Did I get any presents?" Lucy suddenly asked, as she quickly tried to get out of Ezra's embrace.

"I don't know…" I contemplated. "Why don't we go change your clothes then we'll look around to see if you got any?" I teased her.

Without even replying, Lucy eagerly jumped out of Ezra's arms and sprinted towards her room to change her clothes.

I gave Ezra the signal to take out all her presents before following Lucy into her room. I could not help but laugh at the sight of Lucy tangled up in the dress she was trying to pull over her head.

"Let me help you." I helped her put her arms through the dress as I grabbed a matching bow from her dresser and tied it in her hair.

"Are my presents ready now?" She asked eagerly.

"First you have to give mommy a kiss." I requested, wanting to mess with her just a little longer.

She groaned in annoyance, clearly become more and more impatient by the second, before quickly pressing her lips against my cheek.

"There. Now can we go?" She asked desperately.

I nodded with a smile on my face. "Go find Daddy." I watched as Lucy ran from the room in search of Ezra.

"Daddy?" I heard her call from down the hall.

All of a sudden a loud scream of delight filled the house. I knew she had found her stack of presents.

I entered the kitchen to see Lucy staring in awe at the mountain of presents on the kitchen table.

"Are these all for me?" She whispered in disbelief.

"Yep, all for you baby girl." Ezra said as he kissed the top of her head.

"Yay!" Lucy screamed as she lunged for the present at the top of the pile wrapped in sparkly pink paper with a big bow on the top.

She tore open the paper and gasped when she opened the present and saw the words _ American Girl _ printed on the top of the blue box. "How did you know I wanted an American girl doll?"

Lucy lifted the top of the box off and slowly picked up the doll, admiration filling her eyes.

"She looks just like me!" Lucy exclaimed happily as she hugged the doll tightly against her chest.

"Thanks Mommy! Thanks Daddy!" She carefully set the doll back into the box and wrapper her arms around our waists, giving the two of us a hug.

"There's more." Ezra motioned towards the table.

Lucy eagerly ran back to the table and grabbed another present. She tore it open and out fell a little pink dress with flowers on it.

"Clothes?" Lucy asked in a bored voice as she raised her eyebrows at Ezra and I.

I laughed as I told her to look at her doll again.

"Oh my gosh!" She screamed as she realized that the dress in her hand was the exact replica of the one her doll was wearing.

"Now you two can match." Ezra smiled.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lucy cried, unable to control her excitement.

When Lucy had finished opening the rest of her presents, she moved into the living room to play with her doll.

I smiled as I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist. "She's so adorable." Ezra commented as he rested his chin on my shoulder as we watched our little girl.

"Yeah." I sighed in content. "We got so lucky."

"Mhmm." Ezra agreed.

He laced his fingers with mine as his thumb brushed across my wedding ring.

Ezra and I had gotten married a year ago. Lucy had been old enough to be our flower girl, a role I had known she would love. The ring on my finger only reminded me how real Ezra's love for me really was. That despite everything the two of us had been through, he loved me irrevocably and unconditionally. That no matter what new hardships we encountered, he would always be by my side.

The girls and I had stopped receiving messages from A not long after Ezra and I had come back to Rosewood five years ago after trying to run from A. I still did not know who A was, but I was just thankful that that dreadful chapter of my life was over. I no longer flinched when my phone buzzed. I no longer had any daunting secrets dangling over my head.

As I looked back now, everything in my life had happened for a reason. Lucy, Ezra, and I, would not be the happy family we are now if the incident with A had never happened. It was so funny how all the problems Ezra and I encountered eventually made everything fall together. I never would have been able to make it through any of this without him. I squeezed his hand in mine tighter as I realized that even though so many people thought that our relationship would not last because he was my teacher and because I became pregnant as a teenager, all of that only made our relationship stronger. It proved that we could make it through anything.

"Mommy?" Lucy suddenly asked, looking up from her doll.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"Is Maria coming over today?"

I turned to Ezra, silently asking him with my eyes if Jackie had called.

"Yeah, she'll be here in about an hour." Ezra clarified.

"Yay!" Lucy smiled.

Even though Lucy was younger, Maria and Lucy had become very close, treating each other like sisters. Jackie occasionally visited because Maria and Ezra had formed an unspoken bond. Three months ago, Lucy and Maria had began a tradition of dedicating one Friday night a month to have a sleepover together. It did not take much persuading from the two girls for Ezra, Jackie, and I to agree. The two girls would spend hours drawing, playing dress up, and watching Disney movies together.

"Mommy, can I put my new dress on so I can match my doll?" Lucy asked.

I laughed as I took the dress from her and helped her change out of her old clothes and into the new dress.

"Look, Daddy! We're twins!" Lucy held up the doll next to her face, as the doll's dark curls bounced up and down as Lucy held her up.

"What are you going to name her?" Ezra asked as he scooped Lucy up into his arms and sat down on the couch. Lucy snuggled against his chest and held her doll close to her body.

"How about…" She furrowed her eyebrows together, forming a little crease in her forehead as she tried hard to come up with a name.

"Katie?" Ezra suggested.

"No." Lucy shook her head.

"Anna?" I suggested.

"Hmm…" Ezra contemplated, watching Lucy as she tried to think of a name for her doll.

"Taylor!" Lucy suddenly exclaimed.

"That's perfect." I agreed as I watched Lucy jump off Ezra's lap and skip back over to her big pile of presents to play with her doll once again.

I sat down next to Ezra on the couch and laid my head against his chest.

"Thank you." I said softly, as I tilted my head to look up at him.

"For what?" He questioned, as he began stroking his fingers through my hair.

"Everything. For loving me. For not giving up on us." I confessed.

"I would never dream of giving up on us. I love you more than you know."

I twisted myself in his arms as I pressed my lips gently against his.

Everything in my life had turned out for the better and I could not wait for the years to come. I knew that no matter what else life threw our way, we would make it through, and our love would only become stronger.

_Fin_

**Thank you guys so much for all the support and lovely reviews you have given me throughout this story. I'm so glad you guys enjoyed this as much as I loved writing it! You all are truly so amazing and I'm so glad I've been able to share this with you. I hope you guys liked this story and I hope you guys continue to read my other ones too! Thank you for everything! **


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